Dear Family and Friends,
It has been another great week here in Alaminos. Things have been going well, and transfer week went really well. President Mangum was able to get on a boat and get back in time to get all of the interviews done with the departing missionaries. This last departing batch of missionaries had a lot of missionaries that I was really good friends with. There were also a few who had been my leaders throughout the mission. It really hit me how fast that things are going. I was also really thankful to them for helping to form the great experience that my mission has been so far.
Some of the departing missionaries.
Whenever a new batch comes in, it is basically just dejavu over and over as I think back to when we first came into the mission. Also, Elder Allen, who is in my batch with me in the MTC, was just made the new Assistant to the President. He is from Layton, Utah. It has been really fun to catch up with him since we've been serving on opposite sides of the mission for the past year.
A couple of incoming missionaries.
With Elder Allen from MTC batch.
So, we haven't had water in our apartment for the last couple of days. We have been finding ways to get water. Our landlady doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry to get it fixed, despite our persuasions and complaints, so things have been pretty interesting. We grabbed a bunch of empty containers at the mission home and filled them up at the faucet and got them over to our apartment. This morning, we showered at some different Elder's apartment. It's been a pretty interesting experience, but we're trying our best not to complain.
Everything else is going well, and I have been loving the opportunity to be in the office, because I can print off talks and look up quotes while I'm doing my personal study. I have really gained an appreciation for all of the revelation and scripture that we have available to us. I've realized that I have been taking the words of our modern prophets for granted.
Christmas season is in full swing, and I'm still finding it a little hard to get used to. I really don't like to hear or see Christmas things until after Thanksgiving, but we're about two months into the Christmas season now. It's definitely one of those things about the culture that I'm still trying to embrace. It has really helped me realize though how much the people of the Philippines love the Savior. It is simply common knowledge that Jesus Christ lived and died for us. Almost every single person will testify of Him if called upon.
Everything is continuing to roll along. There is always something new, unexpected, or exciting happening that keeps things interesting. Thank you for all that you do, and for all of your support and counsel!
- Elder English
I also saw these tricycles with a bunch of ducks tied to them. The Philippines always keeps surprising me. Yes, they're all alive and it was very noisy.
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