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.

228 days left

Hello Mom.

I think this was one of the funniest emails i have ever gotten.. hahahahahahaa i laughed so hard when i read about the cw class thing.. hahahahahahahahahahahahaha 

anyways,  this week was an ok week. Nothing really special nothing really bad to screw it up. Just yesterday, i found a book called putting on the armor of God-How to fight your personal battle with satan.. it is so good. i would recommend it. I have a whole new perspective on fighting temptations now. its so much easier now that i understand really the whole thing going on with satan and his minions. 

Well we went on exchanges this week. I went with my trainer elder wood. we are good friends. it was nice being able to hang out with him. They had a baptism that we attended. it was real fun. Also this week, they had a cluster meeting where all the church leaders gathered in tacloban and had a training from the area 70s. i like having the responsibility to pick them up. its nice to be with people who hang out with President Monson. They are real cool guys. Maybe Grandma has heard of Brent Nielson, from twin falls. we talked about that for a minute. it was fun being able to relate to someone. He is in the area presidency here in the Philippines.

So this next transfer, we have nine missionaries departing, and 17 noobs coming in. 11 of them being sisters. its gonna be fun seeing sister Nelson from my school. im also still super excited to see Amanda.

Well i love you lots and hope you have the best week in the world!

Love Elder Smith

How is your investigator Jonathon progressing?  how bout that one guy that had to get permission from salt lake.

He just told us that he had been drinking, so we are kinda just slowing down and making sure that he understands everything before we continue with the baptism. he should have his marital papers all lined up now so that shouldnt be a problem.. we will see.

Still have all the same people in the office? 5?

nope.... just four now. Me-Travel secretary, Elder Rivera-Recorder Elder Lucenta-Finance Secretary Elder Landingin- Supply Manager. then the two Assistants. but they dont count as office elders.

 Would you like a pedigree chart MORE than what you had in the mtc?

maybe just one with my grandparents line and up.. just to rule out that we are not related to Joseph Smith... hehhe everyone and their dog asks me....

We're going to register you for uvu for now...are there other schools you'd like?

Yea... basically the five biggest schools in utah... BYU USU UOFU Etc...

can you send home your sd card yet?

well i could, but i kinda want to save them so that i can just have one big narration party when i get home..

Package come yet?  I'm getting ready to send you another one...any little requests?? it's pretty full already...

Yes! it was great!! You just send me what ever you want.. hehe i will be so happy with whatever you send me :)

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

President Eyring???

you asked me a long time ago about missionaries in china...what have you heard?  I have heard some rumors but I have heard nothing formal or official...

I was just wondering if they are getting sent into china yet....