Maligayan Pasko!!! (Merry Christmas)This has been a week of adventures!  I went on my first exchanges with the Zone Leaders this week and boy was that fun.  We got punted all day long but oh well; it was just a like a normal day for me.  Well I know that Dad's going to laugh at this.... I just know it.  Elder Villanueva and I started to teach a Jehovah's Witness. (Let me guess he started to laugh right)?  He's a nurse at a Brngy Hall in Pacol and he's trying to get a job in America.  When I try to speak Tagalog  to him he insists that I speak English so it's easy for me and so he can practice his English.  But let me start off by saying that this guy has done his research.  He brought out all of these maps of Jerusalem to prove his point.  In Alma 7:10 it says that Christ will be born "at" Jerusalem and in the Bible it says in Bethlehem so we had this big ole discussion about that.  He also believes that the sign of Christ's birth was evil because it let King Herod know that Jesus had been born.  That's not even close to 1/10th of the questions/doubts that he has.  He even had a doubt about the Articles of Faith because of when it says "We believe in the Bible as far as it is translated correctly".  So explained to us that he thinks that we have doubts about the Bible.  I didn't even know how to go about that because every time that we read from the Book of Mormon he always Bible bashed us.  He is definitely one of those investigators where I think to myself "The MTC didn't train me for this.  Then on top of that.... I finally faced the dreaded Balut.  I will say right off the bat that it was just as kadiri (gross) as I imagined.  Just as crunchy too.  The ironic thing was that it was on Friday 13th.  I won't look at that date the same ever again. 

Well I love you all and I truly do miss you all.  Every time I see pictures of you guys  it reminds me of how fast you are all growing up.  Two years are going to go by in the blink of an eye; but don't make it go any faster because I love it here.  Even though it's hard and I have my challenges I have truly felt the love that our Savior has for each and every one of us. Continue to be awesome!

                                                                Balut! Yeck!

Down the hatch.

Well this week has been a tender mercy from the Lord.  There has been a lot of success in our area even though our numbers don't show it.  Elder Villanueva and I have been able to get 8 new investigators this week!  But that came through just two families but I'd rather have families than anything else!  We are currently helping two of the investigators get legally married because they both were previously married but have been separated for 15 plus years.  They had 4 kids together so that brought up a few issues but President Reeder is helping us through the process.  This last week the Tatay and two of his kids came to church and they loved it!!  The Bunso (youngest) is 8 and he really enjoyed being around kids his age in primary.  The Primary President here (Sister Dela Cruz) reminds me a lot about mom.  She's always working hard and is always concerned for the kids.  Honestly I never thought I would be helping people get married.. but well here I am.  It's a really really weird thought to be thinking that next month is going to be my 6 month mark!  This time has gone by in the blink of an eye.  Transfer day for us is on New Years Eve so I really think that my time here in the Naga First Ward is about to come to and end.  I have really truly grown to love the members here; the support and encouragement that they have given me is beyond belief.  I'm starting to pick up Tagalog a little bit faster now.  I can understand it pretty well but it's still difficult to speak because there are so many different conjugations and it's hard to decide which one I need to use. May God be with you till we meet again.

Dad I think I might have found out a way for me to actually gain weight...... RICE!!!  I have gained 9lbs from the time I got here to now and we walk a good 4-5 miles a day in our area.  Right now I can almost eat a kilo of rice in one sitting.  But before I get to the fun stuff I just thought I'd like to mention that I think being a chorister is my eternal calling.  I always lead the music in church and for when we have FHE's.  I thought when I went on my mission I'd get away from having to lead but I've ended up leading just as much as I did back home.  You can tell bishop that just for some comic relief.

About the work; it's very difficult at the moment.  Elder Villanueva and I are struggling to get more than 8 lessons a week and we have very few progressing investigators.  Our strength is finding because "I'm white" and everyone wants to talk to us.  At the beginning people seem very interested but when we return they are always "busy" or not even there.  Yeah its frustrating at times but I've just got to keep my head up and keep smiling.  There's always a lesson to be learned, and as you know my patience could always use some improvement so that could be it.  Another sticky situation is with Ann Bon.  Both Elder Villanueva and I feel that she is ready to be baptized and she really wants to be to; the only problem is that her whole family is against her being baptized and she doesn't want to ruin her family relationship.  She's 19 so the choice is up to her but I really hope that her family has a change of heart so that she won't be worried about being baptized.  On the bright side of life; when we were teaching Andrew the other night he told us that he's going to prepare to serve a mission!!  I don't think I've ever smiled so big in my life (well close to it).  He dyed the rest of his hair black instead of red so he could go.  It's been amazing to see the growth in that young man.  He's already told me of how much he doesn't want me to get transferred (well the chances are pretty high). 

My new companion is Elder Villanueva!  He is from the same batch of Elder Manicdo so both of my tatay's will go home at the same time.  He's from Ilooiloo which is close to where Judy is from.  This guy is so funny, he has so much energy and he I know he truly cares about me.  We've only been together for a little less than a week now and I can already see a  big progression in my Tagalog thanks to him!  Almost every second of the day he is asking me what stuff is in Tagalog and if I don't know he tells me.  About our work.... well this week has had a lot of punts!  We even had one day where we weren't able to teach one lesson!  We have one difficult area; there aren't a lot of members here so it's hard to get member present lessons along with being able to teach single women.  But Ann Bon (one of our progressing investigators) finally came to church this last week and she looked so excited!  Her boyfriend Rading is a less-active member and his mother came to church as well.  Rading even wore a white shirt and tie.  He only had one tie so I gave him two of mine; I just can't not want to help these people.  They've changed my life.  A family like the Saqullo's only comes around once in a great while.  But yesterday we gave a blessing to a RC Brother Benjamin.  He's 89 years old and he is the nicest person I have ever met in my life. He doesn't know Tagalog very well (He speaks Ilookano or however you spell it) but yet he still comes to church every week.  It was a very humbling moment when I walked into the room and saw him lying on the bed with the room lit by candle light.  He hadn't eaten anything for two days and he didn't even have enough strength to sit up so Bro. Olivar had to help him while we gave him the blessing.  I almost cried during the blessing because I really do care about this man; when you look into his eyes it's like you're looking at the Savior.  They're filled with love and compassion for everyone. These people are defiantly very special to our Father in Heaven, you know it by even just looking at these people.

Well I have officially completed my training!!!  It's a really weird thought thinking that I've already been on my mission for 4 months now.  Elder Manicdo is being transferred tomorrow and I truly am going to miss this Elder.  He's been a great example to me and has given me a new insight on missionary work.  This week has been really rough to get lessons because everyone seems to be busy or not at home.  But on the bright side Elder Manicdo and I have gotten 8 new investigators this week so now our teaching pool is finally at a decent size.  Opening a new area is very difficult; especially when your area is far from the church so people have a really hard time attending church.  It's about 50 pesos per head total just to attend church so it's not very cheap.  This part of the reason why we have a lot of investigators and very few progressing investigators.  The highlight of the week came on Saturday for Andrew's baptism!  He is a very special young man; he completely turned his life around in order to be baptized.  He kept every commitment without hesitation and always was very willing to participate.  When I stood in the water with him I truly felt the love that our Heavenly Father has for His children.  After the baptism he told me that I was his idol because even though I don't know the language very well, I tried my best to teach in a way that he could understand and that he truly felt like I loved and cared about him.  I'm not going to lie I started to tear up when he said that.  But he also said that he's preparing to serve a mission in a year!  I couldn't be more happy with my decision to serve a mission.  Hands down this is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but this is easily the most rewarding thing that I've ever done.  I love you all and I'm grateful for your influence in my life.  Take Care!!  Mahal na Mahal Kayo!  May God be with you till we meet again.

Doing what I Love! Basketball!!

Thankfully typhoon Yulanda really didn't do a whole lot of damage to our area.  We didn't have electricity for a day but that was the worst of it.  The winds were pretty fierce and it rained off and on for the whole day so we had to stay inside all day which was really boring. I don't know why any missionary in his right mind would give up working to stay inside all day long.  All I can say that it is definitely a different experience being involved in "One of the worst calamities in Philippines history". On a different note; we have two baptisms this week for Andrew and Diana and I am so excited for it!  This is the last full week of my training so I'm glad I get to end it on a good note.  It's going to be hard  leaving Elder Manicdo, I love this guy with all of my heart.  He has taught me so much about how to be a good missionary and he has also played a huge role (along with the Spirit of course) in learning the language.  At this point in time I can finally lead all of the lessons comfortably and I can hold a steady conversation for a while until people get the impression that I know Tagalog better than I actually do and start speaking faster than I can translate.  But this week has had it's ups and downs.  A big down was the Typhoon of course so we couldn't work for a day. But even a super typhoon can't stop the work from progressing.  On Sunday when we were tracting; Elder Manicdo and I met a family who owned a farm and lived a very modest life.  They had 8 people living in a small three room home with sheets for dividers which is very common here.  When we started to teach a very special spirit came into the lesson.  After the lesson Elder Manicdo told me to invite them to be baptized  and in my mind I thought "You're crazy, we just met these people today".  But when I did, two of the children accepted the invitation and the nanay said that after she prayed about it she would let us know her answer.  It was another experience that testified to me of how many people the Lord is preparing in his vineyard; all we need to do is to pick them off of the bush.

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been one that I will not easily forget.  First off Elder Manicdo and I still haven't moved into our apartment yet!  They're having some problems with the contract etc. so we still have to travel 40 minutes just to get to our area.  But on the good end of things Elder Manicdo and I have gained 8 new investigators this week and I'm so excited to be able to teach all of them.  On another good note Elder Manicdo and I have two baptisms on November 16th and Andrew asked be to be his "Baptizer", Diana (our other investigator) asked Elder Mac.  But the highlight of the week came just last night (Nov. 3rd).  We've been teach a less active family in our ward and their son Rading has a girlfriend who's a non-member and lives with his family because she has family problems.  We've only been teaching Sister Ann Bon for about two weeks and she doesn't have a big religious background so we have had to take the lessons really slow and try to make the doctrine as simple as we could.  But last night Elder Manicdo had me extend the Baptismal invitation and she accepted!!  It was one of the greatest things to happen so far on my mission.  The expression on her face was priceless when she accepted the invitation; it was as if there was a new light that came into her eyes.  Afterwards she pulled me to the side and told me of "How Talented I am at Tagalog".  It really touched me; and I must be a big softy now because I started to tear up.  I think there must have been dust in my eye or something like that ha ha.  I am so grateful to have been called to this mission because I have met some of my dearest friends and I am among the people of one of the greatest nations in all of the world.  I am so grateful for all of the support that you've given to me and I miss you all greatly!  Mahal ko Kayo!  May God be with you till we meet again.