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