329 days left

Dear mom, so this week was transfer week. and Lo and behold, i transferred. so when i got to tacloban, i saw all the zone leaders who were transferring and thought to myself that i had a pretty good chance to become a zone leader. I was pretty excited. that last transfer in catarman was a really great one. we worked so hard. and last saturday, we had two baptisms. it was sad that i wasnt able to witness the actual baptisms but i know that its still a great thing and that i helped bring two more souls into the fold of God. They said they would send pictures for me... so hopefully they come some time soon. Anyways, i thought to myself, either zone leader, or trainer... i think i would enjoy either one... but was leaning towards a zone leader. So.... transfer meeting rolls around, im sitting by my missionary buddies, and we get our assignment envelope. inside is our area and our new companion and the assignment(DL, ZL etc...) so its just like Christmas every time i get one of those... its so exciting opening that letter. SO>... i opened it and it said something like this: Elder Smith, We thank you for your hard work and diligence in Catarman, and we know you will be blessed... just stuff like that, then lower down is the new area and assignment and new comp... so i continued to read. Your NEW area is Caibaan/Marasbaras (Tacloban city) and you will be serving as the Mission Secretary.  Your new companions are Elder Edwards and Elder Dayrit. my trainer is Elder Dayrit. im taking his place. So my official comp is Elder Edwards. Yea i was SHOCKED.... huh...??? Mission secretary??? what??? So im an office elder now. I am President Andayas Personal secretary. Some of the perks: i have a microwave, washing machine, car...yes car, air con all day, almost any food i want cuz im in tacloban city, and lots more that i cant think of... i am going to miss going out and working all day, but at least i will be able to work some times..  i will be the first to get mail too!!!!! so right when the package gets here, i will get it... so Im not really sure what else ill be doing yet, im starting training tomorrow. sooo.. ill let you know how it goes...

Love you 

Christian

OH ALSO GOOD NEWS... I CAN SKYPE HOME WITH YOU GUYS FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Did you have all your baptisms?  

they had them, but i wasnt there...

did you transfer?  Where? New companion? Where's he from?  How long's he been out?

yup... look up..

I finally got the vidyo to work, were you able to watch the puppy?  (a couple weeks ago)

yeah... i watched it like a hundred times..

Do you have a stove? or oven? or microwave?

microwave!!! and i could prolly use the oven in the mission home..

I'm sending one box tomorrow...not sure when others will be sent.  Is there anything last minute you'd like?  you good on pants?

ok and the rope things that one of dads co-workers make.... the bracelet things.... one of those.... yea... pants... i want to get some made here.. soo maybe for christmas i will do that...

In one of the pictures on josh's homecoming sign he is waist deep in water...know about that?  

yeah... it floods quite a bit here... i have only been up to ankle deep water before.. maybe in the coming year..

What's your best favorite thing this week?  

eating dinner at the mission home.. its reaaall nice..

What'd you do for thanksgiving...the actual day?

really nothing... i totally forgot about it...

335 days left

Attention: If you have not done your picture...for Christian...he's told me how to say Merry Christmas correctly!  
Its.......Maupay nga Pasko!! It's ok if you already sent one (and thanks!)  Oh and most importantly..if this is new to you I'm making a little gift for the boys.  If you want to send me a picture of yourself holding a sign that says Merry Christmas (or the above translation) Elder Smith, do it really fast.  I need to get his package sent ASAP! 

Dear mom,

This week was a pretty good one... It was a bit stressful as well. but thats the life of a missionary. Tuesday we had our zone meeting which took forever!!!! then after that, elder ostler and i went into the city so he could buy some souvineers for home and what not.. ha gosh... that can make ya trunky... hehe but its ok... wednesday, we just worked and worked and whistled while we worked.. hahaa.. thursday we made the design for our district tee-shirts. its pretty cool. friiday we were supposed to pick up the shirts, but they werent done yet... so hopefully they will be done tomorrow. saturday we went on splits with the ward missionaries in our ward.. it was cool cuz we got  8 lessons that day. Sunday, again; this sunday, was AWESOME! I was speaker, sonny was speaker, our attendance was sky high, we had 11 investigators there and several less active families we have been working with attended. It was really great. If i could choose a sunday to end on, it would be that one. 

 So this week we beat our goal from last week for lessons in a week.  we got a few more... its awesome. We are doing some great work. This week we have two baptisms. Transfers is this wednesday... the baptism is set for saturday. so if i transfer, i will miss the actual ordinance... but i think i can still count em... that should be a fun day. 

Well thats about it for this week.

Love Christian.

Questions:

when you say you lead the zone in numbers...what does that mean?  And how many are in your zone?

We have 18 missionaries in our zone. during the week we count how many lessons taught to investigators, lessons with less actives, etc... We just had the highest amount of lessons taught in  a week.

did you transfer?  where you at?  who's your companion?  where's he from? how long has he been out? oh wait...it's this coming up week huh?

this coming wednesday.

You mentioned that you got to see Sister Jinky (i think that's the coolest name!) where do you get to see them?  Would you get to see Sister Pajeda ever again?

I only got to talk to her on the phone... she is all the way in manila.... i just went by their house and she was on the phone and she wanted to talk to me...

Do you get to send home pictures this week?

not this week sorry....

How do you say Merry Christmas?

Maupay nga Pasko!!

Do you still have your pumper upper from your soccer calle ball?

ya i still have it!!!

342 days left

this week was a pretty productive week. We led the zone in numbers for the second week in a row. its pretty fun challenging the other elders and sisters to see who can do the most. This sunday, we had great success at church. we had 10 investigators come.. it was really really nice to see them all. Brother P. is sick so he wasnt able to attend. but he is still doing amazing. We shared with him last thursday and it was a really enjoyable event. We are still awaiting approval from higher authorities for his baptism. but we do have a few this next saturday. Whoo!!!

i was able to talk to Sister Jinky G. (usually I take out names but her name is sooo cool)... she went to manilla to work. Im happy to say that she is still going to church every sunday and participating in all the Relief society activities. whoo.. that makes me happpy to hear that my converts are still going strong.

Today we had a great zone activity. we went to the beach again and played beach volleyball, soccer, and a dodgeball game.. it was super fun. i found a little starfish that looks like an alien.. i  took a picture of it so hopefully next week i can send it home...

well for christmas, i want snow... ha i miss the snow and the cold. sure being warm and in sunny weather is great, but its just not me.. i need the snow. well thats about it for this week..

Love you

Christian

Questions:

Do you have your glasses?  

yup still have em..

Jensen wondered about how many discussions or contacts you have per week?

uhh... i think our missions use different lingo.... im not sure.. hahaha

Do you think it would be good for us to come pick you up?  Are there places we could stay?  or would you say we shouldn't do that? if money were no object.

well i think it would be fun.. there are nice hotels in Tacloban for very cheap... not like american nice but like a suite room here is like 2000P like 50 bucks a night... there would be lots of fun places for us to visit and stuff. but its only to bad that i couldnt be released when you come... so we could swim and stuff...

We are going to Josh Ostlers homecoming in 2 sundays...can you believe he's done almost?  He comes home on thanksgiving.  Last Sunday we called him mom to find out when he was coming home and she told us.  Is there anything you'd like to tell him when we see him?  Also Josh's mom told us that she saw him in your pictures that you sent last time.  I didn't even recognize him.  We went back and looked at all your pictures and saw him there.  She said some pretty nice things about you that Josh told her in his letters.

Me and him are really pretty close now.. i think we will hang out a lot after the mish.  yeah.. his looks have changes so much on his mission.. he looks old now.. but yeah... im excited that you get to see him.. its super weird that he is going to be able to talk to you face to face in like two weeks...

When is transfer day?

Next week!!! hopefully i transfer! i love this area and all but its always nice for new scenery.. 

349 days left

Dear mom, 
this week was a pretty good week. We took the lead in lessons taught in a week, we have a goal to hit thirty this coming week. i wonder how that number is compared to other missions, especially state side... well tuesday, we had our district meeting which i still love teaching. then wednesday was another work day. Thursday, it was a holiday  and all the banks were closing early.(12noon) so we had to wait at the bank for a loooonnngg time to get our support cuz we were out of money... they told us that support would be in by tuesday, but it wasnt. it finally came in about 4 or 5 thursday. thursday, also a tropical storm hit, and we were forbidden by president to work that evening. sad, cuz we had great appointments that night. nothing really happened, but a lot of really hard rain and yup... some more rain. hehe  friday we had our zone interviews. they were pretty great.. i am always inspired and learning how i can improve myself as a missionary and more importantly, a Deciple of Christ. i think thats one of my biggest goals, to become a "deciple". Since the talk of Elder Holland, im really trying to step it up... The training from zone interviews was all about becoming a better missionary. 

Everyday now, im looking forward to going outside and working. i dont know what changed, but for the last 6 months, i look forward to getting out and going to work... its not like i didnt before, but it seems like im only here now for me. And Jesus. Im really enjoying my work. Really enjoying the harvest every sunday. Of seeing what investigators or less active members show up to church. its really awesome. i hope all of you well, and a happy week.

I love the church. I know that its true.

I love you.

Christian

I had a question about your internets cafe...you mentioned last week that you couldn't send pictures because you were at a specific computer that wouldn't allow you to send pictures.  Is that because of the cafe itself or the computer you were at.  Are there different cafe's that you go to?  Or do you only go to one?

well at each cafe, they have different rules. at this one that we go to, it doesnt allow for me to plug in any usb item into the computer. its just the company policy. I dont like going to other internet cafes cuz they are really dirty and hot. Not just like theres dirt on the floor, but you cant open up a web page without shouting for help.... this is the cleanest one here.. its like all the other ones are Cafe Satan... ha.. for real....

Is All Souls Day the same as our Halloween?  It seemed like it fell on the same day.

its just a celebration of all the dead. its kinda like Halloween. some kids dress up... but most dont. they just all light candles. and go have picnics at the cemetery.

I'm nervous to ask about Brother P.??  Did it go through?

YUP!!!

So did you get a pet at the pet store?  

Nope... they just had fish, pigeons and guinea pigs...

It's the beginning of a new month...are ya rich now?  How is your new apartment?

we have yet to move, we don't have approval yet! its taking forever@@@

What'd you do today?

well i did all my laundry, then hung it up, then the line broke and all the clothes fell from two story's. so then i washed it again and hung it back up... now im gonna buy some groceries and other little things for this week.

What'd you do for service this week?  I loved your last service last time...you helped someone up from their bike...funnee.

uhhh... the only thing i can think of is that we went early to the house of one of our investigators and walked with them to church so they wouldnt be shy...

I love you..so so so much..hope you know that!  You are fantabulous!  translate that!  

-- higugmaon ko kam nga tanan!! I love you all!!!

Ako ay nakakita ng isang haligi ng liwanag, na tamang tama sa tapat ng aking ulo. Higit pa sa liwanag ng araw, na dahan dahang bumaba hanggang sa ito ay pumalibot sa akin. Nang tumuon ang liwanag sa akin, nakakita ako ng dalawang katauhan. na ang liwanag at kaluwalhatian ay hindi kayang maisalarawan. Nakatayo sa hangin sa itaas ko, ang isa sa kanila ay nagsalita at nagsabi, itinituro ang isa, "Joseph, ito ang aking pinakamamahal na anak, pakinggan siya!!!!"

This is one of the most powerful tools a missionary has in his belt. i love it. i have it memorized in 4 languages.(cebuano, waray,english,tagalog)

Love you. 

356 days left!

okeydokey... well this weeeek.. we had a bunch of lessons, actually, we beat the sisters in  lessons this week. pretty nice feat. uhhh district meeting as usual, wednesday thursday friday and saturday as usual, im really not remembering anything that was awesome from this week. Monday, we had a district activity. it was fun. we played pass and badminton, and 4 square, i taught that to some of the people here and other missionaries and they just love it. we played chess and then ate food... really quite a boring week filled with just working and stuff. Sunday was prolly the highlight of the week. we had 6 investigators at church, not including the 4 that usually attend. so as far as investigators go, its doing awesome. we should be having a rather big baptism sometime soon. Brother Ponce will be interviewed this friday at zone interviews and hopefully the next week will be baptized. He is such a swell guy.. Ill take some pictures of us so you can see him. but other than that, it was a normal week, no dogs, no lizards, no snakes... i am going to go to the "pet store" later today... hahaha that should be fun..

 I love you tons and look forward to next week.

LOve you!!!!!

Did the dr's ask you what your diet is?  Did they tell you what to avoid?  Are you drinking enough water?  Too much soda?  I wonder if you were here if you would've gotten them too...I wonder how long it takes to accumulate one of those stones?  I wonder if it's the diet you had here before you left? 

ya i told them that i just eat rice meat and bread. they said, ok, but drink more water... they said avoid preservatives, extra salty foods ect...

Best thing this week?

sunday. attendance was high, lots of investigators, returned members... good church day.

What are you doing for thanksgiving?  but they don't really have that holiday huh?
umm... i dunnno its gonna be my first one here... i might just buy a chicken and eat him.. thats prolly the best i can get here. or the closest i can get..
no.. they dont... they have weird hollidays here... like in a few days is All souls day. its gonna be crazy... i dont know if we will be allowed to work..

363 days left! We have hit a one year mark!!!

Dear mom,

This week was zone meeting and stake conference. Tuesday, we started the day with our zone meeting. It took forever. after that, we had choir practice. My zone was the choir for an RM reunion. We sang a song called How great will be your joy. It was pretty bad... we are not great singers.. i wish i was talented with singing.... hehe  so wednesday and thursday were pretty much normal days. Thursday, we planned to visit Brother P. We got to his house and he was outside without a shirt. Probably working on his garden. anyways, he shouted at us as he saw us and it was the wierdest thing... i dont know how to describe the way of his shout... it was as if he was drunk... so my companion and i looked at each other and said, "i hope he is not drunk".... we walked up to his door and luckily for us, he was sober. he shouted cuz he said he missed us so much. we then had our lesson and talked about conference and just kinda reviewed it. then friday, we had a buch of people over at our house. almost the whole zone slept in our apartment. it was fun. one of my batch, Elder Leutze was there. his father sent him a package for his one year. we played with the balloons and streamers... we then tried to buy some banana bread but bought the wrong kind and we were kinda disappointed.. then the APs came and slept over too. it was a big party! both the APs have been my zone leaders and im pretty close with both of them. Saturday, we worked with the APs and got soaked by the rain. sunday, we had our stake conference. President andaya and his wife spoke, also the 2nd councelor from the Cebu temple presidency came. it was nice. 

Ok.... here is the bad news... Brother P. didnt show up to stake conference. He told us he had a three day all day shift for work and couldnt leave. but at his house he told us he would be coming to church. It was a really hard day. i was really really sad that he didnt come. Especially cuz President was there and ready to interview him. So on Nov 2 President is coming back up for Zone interviews and hopefully, he will be able to make that date as well.

well Ill tell you this.. This week was a real Testimony builder for me. I prayed  and prayed for help with several people in my area, and literally less than five minutes after my prayers, they were answered. Holy cow. it is so cool when your prayer is answered almost instantaneously. I know that  God DOES answer prayers. like it says in James 1:5 ask God, and he will give to all men liberally. God will answer prayers.

well i hope you have a great week. and continue in the faith.

I love you.

Christian

I have one question about the other Elder Smith...I'm pretty sure he's wearing your clothing yeah?  

Yeah he is.. we just got back from tacloban and he didnt have a change of Pday clothes

Best thing this week?

All the investigators we asked to be baptized this week, said yes!!!! so hopefully we will be having a large baptismal service in the coming weeks. WHOOOOO!!!!

day 362 Pictures galore!!

 Dear mom, 

this last week has been pretty relaxing. i spent a few days recovering so that i can fully recouperate. i feel great now.i dont know whats going on and why im getting these dumb things...but im ok now.

so really i didnt do much this last week. i went with a future missionary to complete his dental and medical stuff... we went to the dentist and had his check up and in order to complete the required parts he has to have quite a bit of work done... the total bill is around  9000 pesos. about 200 bucks... its so cheap compared to america. he is getting a full set of prostetic teeth. so he should look pretty legit after. right now is the hard part, searching for the money to pay for it. the bishop and other members are helping a little bit, but there is still a ways to go.. but we are working hard.

all the investigators are still doing great, and Brother Ponce will be interviewed next week. i sure hope he passes. He is still coming every week. we are astounded at how many investigators that are just poring in and wanting to be baptized. i love it here.

By the way, i didnt transfer, so im still here in catarman. :) we have zone meeting tomorrow, im kinda excited for that. it should be fun.

Well thats about all for this week.

Love you

Christian

Question:

I forgot to ask last week...did you get ana's package?

Yea!!!! i got it. I love it soooo much!! i wore the jersey and like a hundred people asked me to trade shirts with them!!! i love it.

I love the service questions:  so I'll ask again...Favorite service moment this week?

some guy dropped his bike and i picked it up for him.. :) hehe

How're your investigators coming along?

They are doing swell!!! we should have a largish baptism sometime soon. im super excited.

What's the plan now stan?  are you being transferred to tacloban? closer to the medical facilites?  

still here in catarman.

What did the dr's find out?  Were/are they able to "melt" the stones?

Well i peed it out in the hospital, and they kidney infection is now healed. so yea im all good now. The stone was huge!!!!!

Best thing about your companion in catarman? or if you have a new comp if you're in tacloban

ummm... he is really funny. he is kinda fruity too... he makes me laugh and is a really nice guy.

(Enjoy...It's a treat getting all these pictures from him!!! )

the food was a zone activity, its noodles with rice and fish

 the girls was at a ward activity, as soon as i pulled out my camera, everyone wanted to take a pic with me.

 The chicken is GIANT... like its the biggest chicken ive ever seen. holy cow...

 Then my socks... they all got ruined in the wash.. hehee

 This is my food stock... were Broke hehehe.

the other is us cutting the grass.

the other one is Elder Smith. he is from california. hes new in the zone.

 then we are eating sugar cane. All the penos say, "look at the americans chewing wood.

Then a little frog that i caught. in the grass

This is the frog.. just a better view.

  this is some of our zone at the Cutting grass project.

 the next one is traffic. its pretty great here. 

 The next is Lechon Baboy. or a BBq pig.. yumm.. from Bishops 2yr old daughters bday party. and the cake for her... nice huh..