Christmas Day in the Philippines

Daniel arrived in the Philippines on Dec. 20, 2013 to begin his two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines Manila Mission, speaking Tagalog.

[sent Dec. 25, 2013]

I'm very glad to be here and be working hard. I think the jet lag has finally worn off. It's very hot here, but inside it's always air conditioned. I'm very comfortable for the majority of the day. I have a very tight schedule.

I've been getting up at 6 and going to bed at 10 since I got here, but the first night I got to bed very late. My flight from Seattle to Tokyo was about 30 minutes late, and my flight from Tokyo to Manila was an hour late. So I was supposed to arrive in Manila at 10:35, but I actually got there at 11:35, and then after I got through customs it was midnight. I was with another missionary on the flight to Tokyo and to Manila, he sat a few rows behind me his name is Elder Wake. He and I waited to be picked up for an hour and a half, and even though it was the middle of the night it was very hot. At about 1:30 am we got picked up and brought to the hotel. Then we waited in the lobby for 30 minutes then we went to our room. By the time the time I went to bed it was 2:30 am local time and I had been up for 29 hours.

My sleeping pattern is back to normal now. Thank goodness. I'm in a triple companionship with Elder Blau and Elder Wake, I was companions with Elder Stratton whose aunt knows my uncle, Ray, but that only lasted a few hours. I'm sharing a room with Elders Stratton, Teeples, Blau and Wake. Elder Stratton and Elder Teeples are the zone leaders, Elder Blau is the district leader and Elder Wake is the Room leader. I'm the only one who is just a missionary.

I had a very nice Christmas Eve. Our district had a wonderful testimony meeting, The spirit is very strong here and so are the testimonies of the missionaries, especially the Sisters.

My language learning is coming along. I can say about 50 different words and I am starting to be able to construct my own sentences, and I've been saying all of my prayers in Tagalog.

Anyway, I'm totally out of time. I miss all of you. But I bet you miss me more, because I've been working too hard to really miss anyone. Maligayang Pasko po.

-Love Elder Southwick