3 days...can't wait!!!

These were sent from Amanda  (cousin on the right...what?!!! ...just in case you were wondering).  

Such a treat to get something right before he comes home...

...yes I can't wait!!!

10 days left.. the end

Hey mom.. i gotta be quick cuz we are going to the zoo. hahaha yeah a zoo. but anyways this is gonna be my last email home. Im still doing great excited to come home and see you all.

Nothing really amazing happened this week. lots of traveling. some missionaries in our zone are being punks and we have to basically babysit them.. its sad.. but its ok...

Well im so excited to talk to you... i will just answer all your questions when i see you! haha Im fine with money thanks!!!!! your the best!

I love you so much

Love Elder Smith

17 days left

Well good day to ya mates! So highlight of the week... 

On wednesday, i had to go to Tacloban to get fingerprinted (dont ask why cuz i dont know) So while i was there, i was talking with a sister from Australia trying to nail my accent. As i was there i noticed a lot of new faces that i had never seen before... So....i tried it... i went around to two or so new people and talked to them in an australian accent. They believed it! THEN!!! another different sister walked up cuz she heard that i was from australia and wanted to talk She was all excited and really giddy and asked if i knew so and so ect..... hahahaha i told her that i wasnt really from australia but i just like the accent. We had a good laugh and she told me that she does that too sometimes..(speaks like an american) just for a chuckle.

Aside from that, its hard knowing that its winding down. the mission that is.. i really dont like it... I liked looking at it as two years more, 18 months more 6 months more... those numbers seemed like an eternity. now its just a few days... unreal...

This week we went on splitz and had some work in our area... Our ward is still really progressive and doing well.. We should have a bunch more baptisms this october..ill miss them by a week or two... but its ok...

Well i will see you in a little bit..

Love ya

Elder Smith

24 days left

Hey famz! Well the days are just flying by... its really unbelievable that im almost coming home... well we have been working so hard this last week. We went on exchanges with the assistants this week and took them tracting in our area... it was a really great time. We talked to tons of people this week. We had some really great lessons with our newly found investigators. You know, whenever you find someone really great, there is always something to make a mess of it just when the spirit come in.... For example.. we were teaching a family of about 15... sons daughters grandsons ect... then right when we were committing them to  pray about Joseph Smith, a man shows up pulls out his cigge and just starts puffin away.. then he randomly buts in and trys to throw the '''Prophets have to come from isreal" schpeal... we quickly shut him down, and tried to bring back the spirit and commit them.. this man looked just like Squidward... but black... he was samok! Well we have also made super progress in our super bukid area: talisay. its great.

Well i love you very much. Cant wait to see you all..

Love Elder Smith

31 days left

Hey Fam.

So this week was absolutely different. We have two new elders in our area so we had to split the area with them. We finally got our boundaries and kinda figured out how we are gonna work.

One of the areas had a dispute that almost made one of the elders walk out... like just get up and leave. So we ran up to their area and helped them fix the problem. I think its one of the deadliest problems in the world. Pride. When we can learn to just stop being a punk and making the problem worse by fighting, by not submitting to the commands of others, even though we are not in the wrong and apologize, we will be a whole lot better off. i really dont get some people sometimes.

So we didnt have much work this week seeing as we spent a bunch of time out of our area, but on sunday we had a good show of people that we didnt expect.

We are basically opening up our area right now cuz its very far from the old area we used to work in so we should see good success. we had a whole bunch of people show up to church from talisay. its a very far place from the church. it was a good show.

So to answer you questions:

I am staying here to die... meaning i wont/didnt transfer. Im still a ZL. 

(I asked more, he didn't answer them)

Well i love ya much...

Love Elder Smith

44 days left!

Hey mom, this week i will email first thing today so that you get it right away. Well the weeks are just blending together. Like its becoming unreal that this week is already over.

The last two weeks have been so busy doing administrational stuff. We found a new house for us and two new elders that will be transferring into the zone. We had to take care of the contract and payment set up method.. Just stuff like that. We also had splits! We didn't have many lessons this week or last week for the matter. We had four baptisms this month and are excited about them. 

So i guess my highlight of this week would be on Saturday  We went to the Orca families house. They are a less active family that are one of our focus families. The ward right now has a goal to go to the temple this October  We are doing all we can to prepare them for this trip. So we taught them about what the temple was and what the purpose and cool things about the temple. We really emphasized the importance or "need" to do the temple ordinances to be saved into the highest kingdom. They really listened and i feel like they took it well and were excited to keep preparing. The cool part is that the next day, Sunday, they were one of the first people at the church. Even before us actually. It really showed me that they were willing to take what we taught them seriously.

The ward is continuing to progress and show me that they are capable of being awesome. The leaders here are so great. Self motivated, serious about their callings and overall converted to the gospel.

We also had a CSP last week. It was really fun. We dug the foundation for a member to build their house. It was a lot of fun digging and working on construction stuff. Maybe i will look into it when i get home.

Well in the next couple weeks i wanna start getting all the stuff like souvenirs and gifts and stuff like that so if you would like to donate to the Elder Smith fund it would be nice :)

Well i think thats about it for this week.

Well i love you lots

Elder Smith

58 days left (updated and correct now)

Hey mom, Im good. Im not sick at all, the computers just would not load the page. so i wasnt able to email last week. But this week was great!!

This was an extremely fast week!!! This last saturday we had two baptisms!! they were great. I was able to baptize one of them and the other was baptized by her grandpa. We have two more this saturday and one the following week. Its great! My zone is now  just reaping the baptisms this month. I think we might be the most for this month. its a ton!

Our one convert, P, He is so awesome. He had been investigating the church for 1-1/2 years. He just wasn't ready to join just yet. then Elder Sacay and i started to teach him again and address his concerns and then he started to change... its the coolest thing to see people change. Its so cool cuz you can actually see the change.often times its a physical change as well as a spiritual change. He was baptized saturday, confirmed sunday and given the Aaronic Priesthood as well on sunday. He has a calling now in the ward and is doing great!! He is so awesome...

So the ward here is really picking up. they are really doing the best i have ever seen in a ward. All the leaders are functioning, they are so excited in helping with the work. I am so excited to see what happens in the next two months.

so i have been having some really crazy dreams lately...im not sure if they mean anything or not but they are effecting my head. they are mostly about me coming home and trying to start life again; but then i cant stop thinking about the pines.. I think they are making me trunky not to leave. Every time i think about home i get kinda feel weird and immediately think about here.

Dont get me wrong or anything, i am excited to come home but im not excited to leave here and what im doing.

Im really excited about going to school. 

Well i love ya lots and hope you have a great week!!

Love Elder Smith

80 days left

Hey mums

This week was kinda long. Elder Centeno was sick and we didn't work for a few days.

Aside from that, we had a good week. We had zone interviews. I love them so much. Anything actually that i can interact with President Andaya. He is a very special man. I'm glad i'm close with him. This week i participated in two choirs. It was super fun! The first one for our interviews. We sang Hymn number 129, i don't remember what its called.. but you can look it up. That went OK  Sister Smith was our leader cuz she is real good at singin.. Then for our other choir, we sang number 41. It would have been great but two days before i lost my voice... first time of my mission actually. Its almost back now.

We had a meeting with the Assistants and the STL's(Sister Training Leaders..basically the sister APs.) about my zone and what we can do to improve. The sisters are having a hard time, but its to be expected because they are so new and given responsibility so soon.

Sister Smith is doing great! I get to see her at least once a week. Its always fun talking with her. Reminiscing about old time and what not. I think she is adjusting just fine.

Here is my favorite least favorite moment of the week.- We were finding and we were contacting all the big houses in our area and we stumbled upon a giant castle house. We knew they were rich because they even had a door-bell. The guy came out and we told him who we are and the first thing he said was "Oh, you don't want us in your church, we smoke and drink. And that's not allowed in your church... Right?" i got a laugh out of that.. then we continued to talk to him and after a minute or so, he asked us to wait. Like he was going to get something from inside. We waited patiently for a minute, then two then five. We decided that he wasn't going to come back to we yelled thank you and left.

Well i'm just about to send some pics now so 

Ginhigugmaon ko ikaw

Elder Smith

87 days left

Hey fam!

this week was a long week. As of sunday, i didnt have a companion. its hard being alone, even though i was with two other elders.... it was rough.. But my companion came of friday. It was super nice to have him... His name is Elder Centeno (Cen tay no) He is from Nueva Ecija. Its near Manila. He is the youngest zone leader in the mission. So far to this date that i have ever heard of.. he is about a year out only. But he is great! Im glad i get to train him.

So we should be having a bunch of baptisms this next month. im really excited for that... hopefully they will all stay strong.

Also i got to see Sister Smith! it turns out that she is in my zone!! We went to pick her up from the bus terminal and it was really weird... im sure it was awkward for her cuz it was really awkward for me... I had no idea what to do! I thought, hey, she is family so maybe i can give her a hug... then i thought...well we are both missionaries so maybe not.... i had no idea what to do! So i did what came natural. I shook her hand. Its really nice to have her here. She is going to be a great missionary. She will have a great time here.

Well we have to go to a lesson now.. hopefully we will make it on time..

I love you all very much

Love ELder Smith

94 days left...down to double digits!

Hello family...well to be honest, im a little shocked at your last emails. ha So much is changing and different!! When you sent the photos of Tylers kwan  (no idea?is that a cebuano word?) i saw a pic of the kitchen and did not even recognize it.... let alone the backyard.. And when i saw Tyler holding the hawk, (at his eagle scout court of honor) this is what came to mind: "That looks delicious!!| i want to fry that bad boy up and throw some banana ketsup on it and eat it with some rice!" hahahahahaha it made me chuckle that i wanted to eat it.. Its only really a glorified chicken with razor sharp talons capable of tearing out the jugular of most human beings.

Its nice to have the pictures, thanks.

Well this week was weird... it was so fast and yet seemed kinda slow. I was basically dragging along my companion this week cuz his mind was centered on going home... Its nice to have a change. I dont yet have a comp, but will this coming friday. This week i will be running splitz with the elders in my apartment. this is weird not having my own companion...  

We had prolly the best ward activity of my life to date... We went to one of the beach resorts and played and ate and played some more.... holy cow... i love the beach so much...  next week i will send you the pictures. i got fried like a chicken, but now its a nice golden tan.. im almost as dark as some of the people here... hopefully it stays.

(I sent Christian a small portion of Amanda's letter and this is his response)

So as far as Amanda, the church orders the flight back out of the pines to show the government that she is actually going to leave the country. but in reality, she will get her visa in the allotted time and then become legal to stay here for her mission.

Love you momma

did you find your camera?  last time you mentioned that you were going to send me pictures...how you gonna do that if you lost your camera?

I got a spare camera that will allow me to send pics home

do you think that this will be your last area?

I think that this will be my last area.. and im ok with it.. its great here. i love the members.

i forgot to ask last time...did you do anything to celebrate the 4th of july?

To celebrate, we (me and the other white kid in my house) looked at our calenders and said "happy independence day." thats all.

This is jensen's last week, last pday etc.  can't believe it...can you?

Well its weird thinking that he is gonna be home in a few days. Its also weird and scary to think that i will be home soon as well.

so will you go back to the mission office this transfer? and perhaps will you see amanda?

Oh im sure i will see her... but i dont know under what circumstances..

did you get to see the worldwide broadcast of missionary a couple weeks ago that mentioned that missionaries will be able to use more social media to do missionary work?  will that start in your mission before you leave?

Yeah... we watched that.. i hope its going to shock the Philippines into helping the missionaries. Its had such a positive effect so far. The members and leaders are doing lots better.I dont think that the Media tools will be used here for a while longer.. We're just not ready for it.

101 days left

So, this week has been a quick one. we went on more splitz and i did a LOT of walking.

OK, so story of the week. One day after or during lunch i got a phone call, and not a normal phone call. This call was from a land-line. and there are almost 0 land-line phones here in the pines... so it was unusual. i answered and it took a second for the speakers voice to travel to me. He said "hello, this is Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the Seventy, who is this?" At this point i was absolutely freaking out and i stood up straight and said this is Elder Smith. He then said, "Hahahahahaha got you, This is actually President Cinco". (my stake president) i about dropped the phone.... i then said, wow president, you got me.... he then laughed for the next 8 seconds. then we had our conversation and then i went on to tell that story to the other elders in my house... haha we all had a good laugh.. and man did he sound convincing... 

well i think thats about all i have time for today. i will try to send a pic or two.

Love you all

Elder SMith

how come a couple weeks ago you had a funeral service every day?  how come so many people are dying?

the funeral was for one person. they have the funeral over a whole week. with a new service every day..... dont ask why...

what kind of fish do you catch and eat there? do you know if we have the same the fish?

 Im pretty sure they are just tuna... smaller kind of it anyways..

When is president and sister andaya finished with their mission? have you grown to love your president? especially being in the office?

i thought i already answered that one..... but they go home in july and yes i do love them.. a lot more so cuz i was in the office with them..

what are you going to do for pday?

today we went to the bukid in my area and had a lunch with some missionaries in our zone... twas fun. 

what are some of your responsibilities now that you're zone leader?  do you like it? 

 I love being ZL. i get to go on splitz with the missionaries in my zone and evaluate them on what they need to improve on. this helps me to  see what i need to improve on as well. Then i go to meetings with president and the Aps and discuss the progress, problems and other stuff of the mission(my zone especially) then i get to give trainings once a month..

108 days left

Hey mom. Its nice to know that your vacation was swell.. Maybe we can do that some time too :)

This week was full of exchanges and typhoons. We went with the Carigara Elders and the Jaro elders. Then we werent allowed out cuz of a typhoon that hit. It blew down a few trees in our area and made it flood and stuff but by the next day it was all clear. It feels weird going to church in our area cuz we arent able to be in it for many days of the week.

This week i lost my camera as well.. im so disappointed and have been praying ever day that someone will return it. i think that i left it on a petty-cab. We will see what happens...

We are having MLC tomorrow. (Mission leader council) in tacloban. it will be fun to see everyone again. 

Love you lots

Elder Smith

115 days left

Wow... Hawaii..... hope thats nice. Its prolly just the same as here. So im not too jealous.  I hope you are having a great time there.

So This week was fun. We traveled alot going to the other Elders areas for exchanges. They are so fun. We went to Calubian. SO Bukid. its Cebuano there. yeah.. i was sooo happy that i can still do everything in cebuano.. it took about an hour or so to switch completely but it was all there still. Its so cool. I really enjoy helping all the elders in my zone. Its a blessing that i am able to be with all these great missionaries. there are a few though that need help. Its a bit more rough helping them. it seams like some people go on missions to just be able to say they went. They dont have their heart in the work at all.

I am also super excited for Amanda to get here. it would be super cool if she was put in my zone. But unless they open a new area, i dont think it will happen. i dont think any of the sisters will be transferring. But we can always hope.

So today we had a sweet zone activity. we went to a less actives farm area and cooked some fish. Yum Yum! i will cook you some when i come home.

Well im excited to see you all in such a short time.

Until then,
Elder Smith

122 days left

So this week was  good. We had a funeral service that we attended almost everyday this week. We are doing work like a mad man. My area is beautiful. i will send a ficture.. The one pic is a Tabili. its a lizard that lives in the trees. they like to bite..

129 days left

hey mom.

This week was a great one. Transfer week was soooo different. We are doing what the rest of the world does now for the transfers. Its nice but then again it was nice to have the transfer meeting and stuff. Now more than ever i have realized that im coming home in just a few months. We have been working so hard.

OH ok.. i guess i will tell you what happened this transfer. So as you know i was training my replacement in the office so its no surprise that i transferred. Ok so now the good part. On tuesday last week two days before the new mission roster was officially released, a sister ran up to me screaming that she knew where she was going. I asked her how she found out. she said that one of the senior missionaries had shown her the roster. The roster had only been given to the seniors... So she basically cheated.. hehee. Then she told me where i was going. She said your going to be a Zone Leader in Biliran! I was like "YES" That is referred to as heaven in the tacloban mission. i was so excited! i told some of the missionaries that i am close to, including one of the APs, who already knew... SO...the rest of the week went by and i was happy go lucky excited to go to Biliran. then the actual time that i got my OFFICIAL transfer letter came. I opened  it and i looked to my new area and then realized that that place was not in Biliran...... uhhhh.... it all of a sudden became REALLY awkward.... I looked up at the AP and he was just rolling on the floor laughing.... It was all a huge joke.... So my new REAL area is Capoocan (Ka-POO-O_Kan) Carigara Zone (about 50 minutes north east) as a Zone Leader. Im still pumped as ever, but it was just a different excitement. Anyways i have been working here in my area for the last few days. I love it here. There are six of us elders in the apartment. its a good time. 

Well i love you lots. until next time.

Elder smith

new companion's name..where from...how long out?

So my new comps name is Elder Sacay. He is from Cagayan de oro i will be killing him this july. His batch is with Jens going home.

how does your arm feel now? amazing?!

My arm feels pretty great! i love not having a cast in this weather. it was miserable.

Seen any cool animals?

The best animal i have seen are the puppies..( oh speaking of which, we got home last night and in the road just in front of our apartment there was a puppy that got run over. he was just laying there letting out just a tiny whine... his last breaths. soo sad)

Elder Rivera, Elder Cuevas, Elder Munoz, Elder McGuire, Elder Lucenta, Elder Smith, Elder Johnson

136 days left

Hey momma 

So this week has been the busy week of preparing for transfers. Its been easier since i have an apprentice. hehe He is really quick to pick things up so its nice.

We are having a nice family home evening tonight with the Lafave family. they are cooking us burritios!!! im so excited!!! 

I am super excited to leave the office this week. i still dont know where im going. i will let you know next week. 

So i have my first date set up.. Its with my friends (Elder Johnson) dream girl. I come home one transfer before him so maybe i could steal her from him.. hehe jokes lang.. The whole point is to make her like him so much that she wants to make him her asawa. well it should all be great fun, but its in a while.. so i don't really care that much.. 

ive been taking more pictures for you so hopefully i can send them now. im really sorry that i haven't sent them yet..

well i really have a hard time conceiving the thought that Tyler has a car, he is done with high school and he is kinda growing up... he is still a baby.

So i asked President Andaya for an ecclesiastical endorsement. he said he would be happy to do it. you just need to make sure that the online portion is done. im still soooo excited to go to school. to start that portion of my life. Its going to be so different when i go home..

I also have a question for you all.. how is your scripture reading? i miss hearing about that. Make it sure that you update me with cool insights that you receive and stuff.

So i think that the transfer will be pretty smooth. i really have not had much stress as of late. its nice.

I will definitely miss all the office people. Especially my companion Elder Rivera. He is super duper cool. 

Well i love you lots..

Love elder smith

143 days left

Hello mum. 
So This week was ok, we were able to visit some Less-actives and investigators. Johnathan is having a hard time right now... 

We are trying to teach the wife of a recently active member... she is so shy and is having a hard time facing us.. she will just hide in the back room while we just end up teaching the rest of the family.. we are turning her over to the sisters now..

So during may, the Catholics here do this little parade thing every week. I'm not sure why, but i think they do it to collect money. Anyways, i was finding in an area that i had never been in, and while we were walking away from a house, we got bombarded by the small Catholic childrens. they all carry candles and big kite looking crosses and sing chants and i think ask for money. So we ended up waiting in one spot for about ten mins for them to pass.

other than that, the week was pretty smooth. church was nice. I have one more week until im out of the office.\

These next two weeks might be stressful cuz we are trying to do a new transfer system. We will just send all the missionaries straight to the area now instead of having the actual transfer meeting in tacloban. I think this is what all the other missions do. im kinda excited for the new thing..

Today we had sports fest!! we played football basketball and 4 square.. i had a lot of fun. we had a bunch of people show up and it was a blast. We played bball missionaries vs ward and we won by one point.  You ever heard people call kobe the black mamba? well they all started calling me the white mamba...Just kidding. Im still really bad at basketball. So i took a video of me dunking a softball sized basketball. its pretty sweet. thats pretty much all i can do. i still white-bread. My cast is still soaked and its really annoying, but its life. I will get it off on June 5.

 So we asked around about making a suit. and they said it would be around a 100 bucks. That would be cool to do.

well i love you all

Lvoe Elder Smith

Is your investigator Jonathon not going to get baptized before you leave? 

I dont think Jonathan will be baptized before i leave...

What'd you do for you pday today?

refer to email

Is the black wearing off of your cast?

Well the original cast was white.. we spray painted it black. and yes it is coming off.

You mentioned that you love elder rivera...what is it that you love so much about him?  why/how is he obedient that some others don't/do do?  (haha I said dodo)

He is just a really good friend and a great missionary. its hard not to love anyone who is like that..

I'm prolly going to send one more package to you before you come home...a little one...what would you like?  I like when you give me a list of stuff.  

As far as the package goes, maybe it would just be better to load my card for souvenirs and what not... i can wait till i get home for more stuff..

Best thing that happened this week? 

best thing was going to Talosa for apartment checks. Elder Rivera is the apartment manager and we went and checked an apartment. we then got invited to eat food at the church and it was fun.

164 days left

Hey mom, i love you. so last week, we were invited to play basketball with the ward on Monday  it was so fun. i owned some people like usual and then got owned myself. So i slipped on the painted box inside the key and fell and cut up my knee and stuff.. you know the usual street ball fun. i really loved playing with the ward members. it was just like i was playing with my friends and family from my own ward. then after that, me and some other missionaries threw the old pig skin around. it was a blast. So my training with Elder Muñoz is going well. he is a really bright kid. He will do this job well. just one more week till im out of the office and into the sun. cant wait. this upcoming week we have zone meeting, and then zone conference. they are always fun times. great revelation times. 

so last night at our office dinner, i was talking with one of the senior couples here and she told me that she majored in botany. And grandpa harrison was her head teacher person. it was really cool. her name is ani maxfield. from washington.

I love you muchly!

Love Elder Smith

So to answer you questions. 

What cars do you drive?

We as the office staff have 4 cars. two vans and two trucks. we all have our licenses so we all take turns.. so assigned driver.

My fav thing about Elder M. 

He is wicked good at drawing! \

What is the oddest thing that happened this week?

uhm...not sure about the oddest thing.. lots of odd things happen but none come to mind..

what can't you wait for when  you are out of the office?

i cant wait for taco bell. i cant wait for sunlight. i cant wait for regular missionary hours.. etc.. hehehe 

171 days left

Hey momma! this week was a good one.. It was transfer week again. So we have a new AP. So the they are both pretty new now. so this week was fun trying to help them run the transfers and what not. Even with the crazy schedule that we have during transfer week we managed to teach some of the best lessons! Brother Jonathan is doing soOOOOOOo great!! He came to church again, still reads, prays and is doing so great with everything. i love him so much! i have been teaching him for about 6 months now. since back in November. He is progressing so well.

 

so the hardest part of the week was friday. Friday is the day when we have our transfer meeting, then the newly called leaders have a training then we(office elders) take the transfering missionaries to teh bus terminal with there luggage. so the schedule was really messed up for some reason.. as in messed up.. im not sure how it got that way but it did. so we started taking people to the bus station, and on one trip i was standing outside the car with my hand on the frame of the car. i was checking to see if there were anymore elders that were coming with us. So as i was looking, one of the Elders slammed the sliding door of the van shut. Little did he know that my hand was there..... i did not even know that my hand was slammed in the car until i tried to get into the car and i couldnt move. haha i started walking towards the driver seat and got jerked back cuz my hand was shut into the door. So once i noticed it, i freaked out! Thats when the pain came. i tried to open the closed door, but the door was locked. i told someone to run and push the unlock button and he didnt know how, so i ended up reaching over with my unpinned hand and pushing it myself. Then me and the five elders that were in the car tried opening the door. It just would not open! then finally with a final heave ho, it opened. To my surprise, there was no blood, No torn skin. I had a huge indent on the back of my hand. i thought that all the little bones in my hand were broken. it hurt somethin fierce. i could not move my hand at all. but we had to continue taking people to the terminal. so i drove with one hand the rest of the day. at the end of the day, i tried moving it slowly and then little by little it all came back. nothing broken, just a nice big ole bruise.

 

So also on friday, i went to the transfer meeting where all the new missionaries would find our there new areas and positions. So during this whole time i was searching for the one missonary who freaks out cuz he got assigned to the office but no one did. so i started to lose hope that i would get out of the office this transfer. I then went up to the APs and asked them if i was training my replacement and they told me that i would be in the office for 9 months. sigh... ok i will accept it. then president andaya came up to me and asked me if i had seen my new companion....WHOOOOHOOO!! so i found out that after this transfer, i will be leaving the office. so His name is Elder Muñoz. he is a small pino. i send pic later.

 

So this transfer will be nice..

Yeah, so thats about alll for this week.

Love you all

Elder Cdoggy smithman

 

questions:

 

in  your last email...what did you have to grab?

i dont remember what it was that i went in and grabbed, but it made it so we were on the street at the same time as her dad.

Do you have a trainee now?

Yes i have one now

What did you do for p-day today?

We played ball with the ward members. i scratched my knee.. i show you pics

What is the update about the wealthy girl?

She has been out of contact for a little bit... she was sick with a heart problem and wasnt able to be visited..

178 days left

Hey Mom.

This week was really great! We tried really hard to finish all our stuff in the office so we could go out and work. We taught so many lessons this week! SOme in waray some in cebuano and others in tagalog. i really enjoy that part of my mission. Elder Rivera is really good at teaching me Tagalog. He has even taught me some of his native language of Akeanan. (aklanon). 

So just an update with some of our investigators. This week we met with jonathan everyday! He is improving so much! One night we were late for our lesson and he thought that we werent going to show up so he prayed that we would show up cuz he missed us and then maybe an hour later, we showed up. The look on his face when we showed up. holy cow. it was really awesome! He is now PROGRESSING. he made his girlfriend move out so he could live the law of chastity, he doesnt smoke or drink anymore. he is reading the book of mormon everyday, and he is coming tochurch. his baptism should be on may 18. im really excited for that. This is the first time in my mission that the person actually stopped their "live in". He is doing great. 

We also have a new investigator. She is super professional. her house is huge! One night we were teaching her, and towards the end of the lesson her dad pulled up in a big ole car and got out and started yelling at us asking us what we were doing at his house. He was frustrated that she didnt tell him that we were teaching her. But she told us that she had talked to her dad and he said it was fine... so kinda scary. then the next day, we were finishing up work in the office and we walked out the door, but i had to go back inside and grab it (I'm on the edge of my seat...grab what?). so maybe five mins later, we left the office. we then went to the street to catch a jeep. As we were waiting, some big ole car pulls up and the guy says get it! we looked closer to see who it was, and it was her dad! he took us to the place we were going and then we talked with him and kinda gave him the rundown of what we were doing and what our purpose is. here is the cool part. the first time while he was yelling at us. kinda in mixed tagalog and english,  i looked at him and started speaking waray to him. he then was shocked and listened to me as i told him who we were and what we were doing. It really is a great thing that we as missionaries can speak to people in their own language. they are so shocked and then are super kinda taken aback. and then they want to talk with you some moe.. its really cool.

Well ive gotta go, i love you

Love Elder Smith

You mentioned that you were able to take all 17 new missionaries at once...how in the heck were you able to do that?

we took 3 cars and squished them all in.

"we ferried people to the bus station " usually when you say ferried...you mean boats...is that the case? 

no. we take missionaries by the bunch to the terminal in the car.

do you only get mail once a week? or do you get it everyday?  Is the mail system the same as here?

the supply goes one time a week. the system here is prolly the same system the US had in 1946. hehehe

did you ever get the christmas card? or ty's eagle invitation?

yeah i got those!!

keep in contact with elder ostler? or elder wood?

Not much.. i always forget to email them.

Anyone write you an email that doesn't normally?

sister Neilson did.. 

Are you on any medication?  just suffering through it?

I dont want to take meds or go to the doctor... its not that bad.

You mentioned last time that you will be there one more transfer?  when is the next transfer?  and are you starting to train someone yet to replace you?  what will you miss?  would you sacrifice all the goodies (ac...washing machines...dryers...food?)for regular ole' missionary work?

the new tranfer starts this week. hopefully, i get a trainee. im not sure yet... i will know on friday.

do you have a favorite hymn?

Yeah.. i have a couple.... Hie to kolob. Truth reflects upon our senses. isreal isreal God is calling...just to name a few.

185 days left

Hey Mom, This week ive been sick. yeah.. just on thursday i started feeling funny. At the night time i started to fever then i had the real bad runs.still till now.. then i was throwing up a few days but not to much. my fever was on and off but not to bad. I really have not been feeling well. anyways, We havent been able to work this last week due to lots of incoming missionaries. but i think i only have one more transfer in the office then i will be out! hahah it sounds like its a jail sentence.This upcoming transfer we have a record breaking 23 missionaries coming.

So i got the package. it was super great! as usual. all my friends are loving playing with all the great toys! the tie is really cool. i love you very much so much.
I howp your all doing the best.

Love Elder Smith

 

do you need anything?

nope im ok.

make sure you send me your id stuff...

ok

oh did you ever get that package? did you get your new debit card?

YEs great stuff. love you

198 days left

hey this is some free time that i have! So that's super cool that you are going to visit great grampa Smith.

 SO... I will tell you what happened for Easters... So as you know, the catholic church here is so prominent and huge. It dominates the smaller religions here. So They are so crazy, so evil,(in my opinion) so twisted in their logic, its almost sad. So i don't know if you know, but  at least here, the catholic people gather every Easters and celebrate the death of Jesus. Every "good Friday" they abstain from alcohol, they don't eat meat, and do other silly things. Everyone stays home and basically pretends like its the sabbath day. Like for example, all the stores close, people don't come out of the house, they just go to their annual church mass and go back home. One things that they do here that might be exclusively here is Human Crucifixion. The church chooses one member to take upon himself the role as "Fake Jesus". they in turn believe that by crucifying him, they are forgiven of their sins.SO, this man starts his journey by walking to the large catholic chapel, they then give him a whip and he then starts whipping himself. at one point they take the whip and give him something with shards of glass embedded into it which he then rakes his back with. After that, they give him the cross. he carries the cross until he reaches the large church. They then (2010 was the last actual) nail him to the cross for a period of time. They have people who are dressed as roman guards that watch the crosses. This year they had a man do all of that except the actual nailing to the cross. We drove by the catholic church as they were closing the roads to let the man walk to the church. We saw the three crosses put up and saw that they used a doll/dummy instead of the real guy. We took some pictures of some scary guys that the church uses to get money. They go door to door with no shoes knocking and then asking people "Where is Jesus?" they then ask for money. Some of the Elders that live in that area had them come to there house. This all takes place in Palo. its like Springville to Provo distance wise. so just a few mins away from Tacloban. I will attach some pictures. We weren't allowed to work on Friday, so we stayed home and cleaned the apartment.

Ok. well i love ya lots and stuff! Be safe of your journey to California!
Love Elder Smith

questions:

get the package yet?  do you like the tie?  do you like the treats?  what's your favorite? did you share with mulitple  people?

Maybe it will be here today, we will get the mails later.

what're you doing for easters?

Cleaning!!

what did you do this last week?

Lots of paper work! This week i get to drive the MTC president around. he is speaking in a youth conference.

favorite pday activity?

Prolly B-ball.. we were going to go golfing, but not enough people wanted to. so this next monday.

213 days left

hey mom, so nothing really new this week.but this last week was transfer week. on wednesday, we picked up the new missonaries from the airport. it was cool being able to pick all 17 of them up. when i saw sister nelson, it was wierd cuz she looked completly different than from what i remember.. haha it was kinda like a hey hows it goin.... then thats all.. we really didnt know each other that well...she got me confused with jensen cuz she didnt think that i had been out for as long as i had.. haha.. but apparently her little sister is really "Tight '' with Tyler.. so that was cool to find out. so we pretty much just hung out with the new missionaries on wednesday, then thursday, we had the newbie orientations. President asked me to make a PowerPoint presentation of my responsibilities. it was fun. i made it a few minutes before i delivered it.. haha..

 

then friday was kinda a mess. in the morning, during transfer meeting president texted us and told us to take his wife to the store so she could get cooking ingredients for the lunch. so we did, then went back just in time for the lunch. after that, we are supposed to take the missionaries to the bus station so they dont have to pay so much for their luggage. but we went to the hospital cuz elder mahoni was sick. He had a super high fever and stuff.. they diagnosed him with UTI..not fun. so after that, we ferried people to the bus station and then President called us and told us to come to his house after. He then served us some yummy ice cream. it was nice. then saturday we were able to work. it was also nice. we just went around finding people. knocking on doors, you know, the normal missionary stuff. We met a guy called kuki. we told him about the book of mormon and who we are and stuff and we set a return appointment for later tonight. we will see what will happen. We are especially looking to teach a family. We made a goal to find and baptize a family. i hope we can find one. it shouldnt be to hard...

 

Well thats about it for this week. hope you didnt get to many pinches... We had no idea it was st. patricks day. But yesterday was Sister Andayas birthday. We sang her a song. Also, i found a Tagalog childrens hymn book. its sooooo awesome!! all the child songs but in tagalog.

 

Well i love ya very much.

Love Elder Smith

questions:

in your last letter you mentioned that you had some scallops...you likey? or is that on your do not ever eat again. I LOVE them.

They were pretty good, not my favorite thing in the whole world, but i would try them again.

 also, you mentioned that you sang hymn # 58...did you sing it in english? or cebuano?

English... it was cool. we sang it in parts and did a staccato version for the second verse.

 

what's new in the office?

ummm.... nothing really... hehe

 

Newest bug or spider or lizard you've met?

im not sure... i will find one this week hopefully

 

Can you send pictures this time about cleaning the bukid? or anything?

yeah...... i totally forgot... i will send some to you.

220 days left

Hey mom, this week was pretty filled.. ill try to remember everything exciting thta happened. so last monday we played basketball. All the Zone Leaders came and it was super fun. tuesday, I had a meeting with the Mission Presidency. it was ok.. long and boring, but this time we went to Ochos. one of the nicest places to eat in all of region 8. It was super good. i had some scallops, some pork shishkabobs. and Lapu Lapu. a kind of fish in a marasa sweet and sour sauce. so wednesday was not really rememberable... (is that a word?) thursday, was....pretty much the same.. actually, the system we use was down all week so it was a really stressful time. i couldnt contact the people to arrange ticktets for the returning people and for the arrival people. so then friday we had a service project. We cleaned all of Basey. (Ba-Sigh) it is a small town in the bukid. we cleaned it all.. ha.. we did that with the zone.. i will send some pictures. then saturday, i finished all the paperwork and stuff to give to the new missionaries. it took a really long time to finish it. sigh...* but its all done now... so sunday was cool. we sung a special musical number in sacrament. it was pretty sweet. we are the next big thing.. we sung Hymn number 58. Come ye children of the Lord. then we had our staff meeting. thats about it... hehe oh on tuesday, we were able to visit our investigator Jonathon. he is doing ok... his GF wants to be Re-baptised.. we are going to teach her that she doesnt need to be rebaptised to be cleansed from sin.. its really sad that people that have been members for a long time dont know this. We are helping in a big way. teaching all the simple doctrine to the people of the mountains.. 
Well thats about it..

I love you
Elder Smith

questions:

How cool that you got to be with Elder Wood again!  When does he go home?  It must be pretty soon now if he was your trainer...what's the best thing about him?

He went home this afternoon. I took him to the airport and said my final goodbyes It was weird.  He was a really good friend. always helpful.

Funniest thing that happened this week?

i dont think you will think its very funny but i will try my best to make it sound funny for you. i was just talking to some elders as we were eating lunch i we were talking about something, i dont remember what, but we were speaking Tagalog and i said "Ganon Lagi" Ganon, is tagalog for "like, or is like this." and lagi is cebuano as an expressi0n.. like the word "Really" it was just so super funny cuz we were all speaking in tagalog and i mixed in cebuano.. i really dont think you would think its funny... but it was really funny. and the elders here in the office still make fun of me.

who said this...Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, but today is a gift, that is why we call it present."

President Eyring???  funny boy...it was master  ugway from kungfu panda...but really I loved that you thought it was an apostle.

you know i really thought i heard him say that in one of his last talks...

So when are transfers coming?  Did you already pick up the girl you knew from school?

transfers are this week. i will get her tomorrow.

Have you given away any ctr rings  yet? and to whom?

yeah i gave them all away. to the cebuano missionaries  and to some people here in the office

Have you held any chickens?

naw... they are gross and have gross bugs and dirty stuff on em..

Have you seen anyone kill/butcher a chicken? or any animal for that matter?

yeah.. lots! i wish i would have taken pictures, but in catarman we baught chickens live and killed them and cooked em up.. I have learned lots of ways to kill and cook a chicken..

What did you do for pday today?

today i took care of all the departing missionaries and took them to the airport.

Teagan asks...what's your favorite food?

I love a dish called Becol Express. its super spicey and has beef, coconut milk, and green beans. and NO, i dont eat the green beans.. hehe

Owen asks:  What's your favorite meeting so far?

I have special access to all of the meeting of the misson, and my favorite one is Departure meeting. All the departing missionaries saying their testimonies and sharing all the cool experiences and stuff.. really inspiring. and motivating.

Kristina asks to translate a catch phrase..."thanks for nothing, you useless reptile"

ok haha.. Salamat sa wara, waray ka gamit nga buwaya.