In The Mountains

Week 6

05th January 2015

We had no chance to email last week due to no P-day. It's been good to be out in the field! Everything is going well.

So last week we finished up in the MTC. Me and the other San Pablo batch left at 5am to get to the Alaminos (which is 1 hour from San Pablo City), and meet the mission president, his wife and of course our new companions. 

As we said our goodbyes to the MTC and the other missionaries in our batch, there was a lot of sadness because it will be two years before we see the other Elders, and we may not ever see the sisters again so it was quite emotional. 

When we got to San Pablo Elder Faka'i, Elder Finau and Elder Nikau and I stayed together before being seperated. I met a missionary from Cairns named Elder Aisa.

We went into the transfer meeting and met our companions. I was expecting a 5ft7 Philippino companion but oh no, it was not meant to be... My companion's name is Elder Richards from Utah, and he stands at about 6ft7 or 6ft8. Ridiculously tall! 

It was a 5 hour trip on 3 or 4 jeepneys before we got to our new area. I'm currently serving in the Pakil branch, in Pakil area. My zone is the Siniloan zone, and I think we are the furtherest North zone in the whole mission. We are waaaaay up in the mountains.

The work has been good, the first few days were spent getting to know the area and meeting members, before going into Siniloan to get our support fund for the month. We live off 8000 peso for the whole month, which equates to around $200 AUD. 

So far the work has been okay, last night was the best night of the whole week, we got 8 referrals and contacted 5, as well as 11 potential investigators. The Lord was truly merciful on us last night.

Today we played basketball in the morning with the zone at a chapel in Siniloan before doing the washing. I thought washing with your hands would be hard, but NAH! Found it quite fulfilling to be honest. All my clothes washed in an hour and a half, and now we're just in a computer shop e-mailing. The shower with a hose hasn't been too bad either, I've been pretty solid on that. What is hot water? :) 

The Chapel I am at is really nice... but the houses some people live in are...      :(  ... yeah... it hasn't been too overwhelming so far.  I embrace everything because its part of my life now.

The heat hasn't been too bad, a lot of wind blows up here, and it's a chilly wind too so it's good. 

The food is REAAAAAALLLLLY Nice!  Nothing here is bad... I love it all!

I forgot my cord, so I'll definitely send photos next week! 

Send everyone my love.

Just in case you were wondering what a Jeepney was!!! :)