Tuesday, August 19, 2014

A Great Work to Perform

[sent July 8]
I've been trying recently to be more obedient and this is why: Elder Espano and I had a lesson last week with a family that had never heard the gospel before. I'll never forget what one of their daughters did when we gave them a Book of Mormon. It was about 6 pm and the sun was starting to go down, and they have no lights in their house. Anyway, she was sitting in a dark corner when gave her a Book of Mormon and explained to her what it was, and while we were finishing the lesson she stood up and walked across the room and sat right next to the window and began to read. I encouragingly said with a smile "Mabilis" (Hurry). She wanted to read and didn't want to wait a minute. I realized on that day that there needs to be an urgency in this work. The gospel is not about what we do tomorrow. This humble sister understood that and humbled me. I'm only going to be here for 2 years, and after that I have to live with all of the decisions that I made. I don't want to spend my whole life asking "What if I had given everything instead of going through the motions?" I'm not being an exactly obedient missionary because I want to be, but because I finally understand that I need to be. 



[sent July 13]

This area is great. The members here are humble and helpful and happy. The church building is just like a small American one, except there's no basketball court inside only outside. And like all the LDS Church buildings here in the Philippines there's bars on all of the windows.

My apartment is much nicer than many of the houses that we visit. Our floor is tile instead of dirt or cement, our walls are flat and painted, and made of concrete not bamboo. And our roof is made of metal and wood, not leaves.

I've had many interesting experiences in the last few weeks. About a week ago I ate dog. Everyone said it was pork, but when I found out it was dog I ate a little more. I baptized two children with a sprained ankle and an injured right hand. On Tuesday I left the SD card with all of my pictures in Puerto Princesa,(3 hours away) then, luckily, I got an infection in my right leg so I had to go back to Puerto on Saturday to do some blood work and buy medication, and retrieve my SD card. I got to play the piano at a funeral yesterday. And I just found out that no one from my area is getting transferred on Wednesday.



[sent July 21]
I'm allergic to Penicillin. Did you know that? I sure didn't. The antibiotics I was taking were giving me chest pain, and I took 9 pills before I found out that was because I'm allergic to them. I took some different antibiotics and now I'm back to full health and my infection is gone.

The typhoon that hit the Philippines this week resulted in 30 minutes of heavy rain here in Roxas, if I was in Manila like I was 6 weeks ago I would experienced much heavier rain and stronger winds and flooding, but luckily I was among the last batch that was transferred to Palawan before the typhoon. The typhoon actually delayed transfer day, but none of that affected me.

I've had a lot of interesting food since I arrived here in Palawan. There are red bananas and red pineapples here. The red bananas taste just like American bananas, but I've yet to taste of the red pineapples. (Both are just red on the outside.) I also had some green oranges the size of cantalopes. Those were interesting. Today I had dragon fruit for the first time. It was interesting, but I don't even know what to compare it to.


I saw a picture of sister Ramasima in an old issue of the Liahona. It was weird, I was like "wait, she looks familiar.." It's a small world.

I've gone on splits a few times now. It's weird to be the only full-time missionary when we teach a lesson. Of course the members that I work with are awesome, and preparing to serve missions themselves. I feel like I'm almost a real missionary, with the help of these members I even taught the Restoration to someone I've never met before.

I'm starting to learn that being a missionary is an individual decision that we make every day. I live in an apartment with some missionaries who don't always remember that they're not here just to enjoy themselves. Sometimes I fall into that trap as well, but I'm striving to take this work seriously more seriously, even if those around me aren't.

I'm blessed to have a great companion who knows the gospel inside and out and helps me to see where I need to improve. I want to be more like him. He makes it easier for me to be a diligent missionary.

I'm very happy to be here. I'm happy to see how proud you are of me, but I'm just a tool. Of course in the Lord's hand even a simple tool can be used to do great and marvelous things. We should all seek to become tools in the Lord's hands so that He can use us for His great and eternal purposes.

Love you and miss you all, hope you enjoy the pictures.



[sent July 27]

I feel greatly blessed. The missionary work here is new and exciting. I'm often surprised when people say that they've never heard of the church before. It's exciting but also a little bit overwhelming when I get to then explain the restoration to them, and answer all of their questions. I'm really glad that almost everyone here already believes in Jesus Christ. The Spaniards did some of the missionary work for us. Many people already believe that Jesus Christ is their savior and many have a desire to be close to Him. 

I write in my journal every 2 or 3 days. I should write more often, but time is a precious thing. We'll see if I can find more time for it. There's definitely a lot of noteworthy things that have happened so far.

I want to encourage each of you to practice your Tagalog for the next time we skype. When Mom said "Kumusta?" Mark said "Your Mom speaks Tagalog?" He was impressed and I was touched. Tagalog is a beautiful language. Each of you should learn how to say at least one sentence or phrase in Tagalog. I'll share the First Vision in Tagalog. It'll be fun, but only if you actually do it. 

Happy Birthday Trevor!!! I'm so glad that you will be 6 on Friday I only wish I could be there to watch you blow out the candles, and open your presents. Take lots of pictures. Love you Trevor.

We have an investigator named Kelvin. He's little, only 7 or 8, and he's very serious. I haven't seen him smile. But he's cute. He even looks a little bit like Kelvin.

I just found out that a girl I taught in Manila was baptized a month ago. I'm so happy for her. I wish I could have been there, but I'm still really happy for her.

Maraming salamat po sa inyong mga emails, mahal-mahal ko kayo. Makakita ko ng mga biyaya ng gawaing misyunero sa aking buhay at sa inyong mga buhay. Ingat po. [In Tagalog]



[sent Aug. 4]

Some of you have been better at communicating with me than others. I'll assume, for now, that that's because you're too busy writing me letters. Elijah's letter just arrived and it was awesome. I'll reply to it today. I slightly prefer hand written letters to emails. If you've received a hand written letter before you'd understand why.
One of the best ways to strengthen your relationship with anyone is to communicate with them. If you want someone to feel like they can trust you and if you ever want anyone to understand you or your feelings you must tell them. Use your God given ability to speak (Exodus 4:11-12) and write (Acts 15:23) to bless and strengthen those around you and your relationships with them.
Dad sent some great pictures of all of you boys all dressed up. I miss being one of the boys. Elijah, you're getting tall, don't stop. You guys better be having fun together. Don't wait for me to get home to have fun. :)
I heard that you're still praying for me consistently. Thank you. The Lord has been watching over me.
Keep doing what's right. You only receive blessings when you are obedient (D&C 130:21). If you're truly converted to Lord and His gospel then you will have no more desire to do evil (Mosiah 5:2).

I've been called by God as a special witness of the truth and divinity of this work, but don't take my word for it (Moroni 10:4).


[sent Aug. 11]

I was thrilled today when I opened my email today. I'm glad to hear from so many of you. Even if Mom or Dad were the ones that typed it. I'm very excited that I have so many letters and two packages on the way. I love receiving letters because I can take my time and just read them. I don't have to worry about having to quickly reply before time runs out. So the joy that comes from getting news from home is not accompanied by the stress of immediately responding. If you want to know more about letters and packages for missionaries I suggest you read the article in the March 2007 issue of the New Era.

It seems like you guys are having a lot of fun trips and such. I hope you had fun in Legoland. You are very blessed to get to go to fun places like that. I'm glad you're all getting so big. I love you all. I'm trying to be the best missionary I can be, in part because I know that many of you look up to me. I want to make you proud. You should know that deciding to go on a mission is not the easy part. I have to decide every day to be a missionary. Going on a mission is no great feat. Anyone can pack a suitcase and step on a plane. The part that makes a mission hard is that your family, your leaders, your friends, those that you teach and the Lord expect you to be a disciple of Christ and a righteous servant of His in every thought word and action. Oddly enough, if you have the Spirit with you even this strenuous feeling can be lifted. I've begun to see that with the Spirit I can bear this load with ease. The hardest thing for me right now is the language, but I know that if I truly dedicate myself to learning it, that the Spirit can help me overcome this hurdle as well.

I've been an Elder for 1 year and 364 days. Tuesday will be the two year mark. :) I've only been a missionary for a few months though. I know I have a lot left in store. I'll try to share with you all of the experiences that I have here on my mission. Either now or after I've returned home.

You should know that I love you, so I'll tell you: I love you!




Sunday, July 20, 2014

In New Area (Palawan)

[sent June 9]

I got my wish. I got transferred to Palawan! It's so great to finally be out of the city. Everything is so calm here in Roxas. It's nothing like Manila. The people here are different. They're even more willing to listen to our message.
The people here don't live close together at all. Some of the members live 20 miles out of town. We still visit them occasionally. We have a sacrament meeting in the church building here in town and then every 2nd and 4th week we also take the sacrament to the people that live 20 miles from town, in a place called Magara, (20 miles south of nowhere.) Even Roxas is too small to appear on most maps, but it's the biggest town for at least 100 miles.
I got to witness a baptism in the ocean. Meaning, I went into the ocean up to my knees and witnessed a baptism. I'll try to send pictures.
I ate half of the Mac-n-cheese that you sent it was great. I found out that they have mac-n-cheese in Manila, but it's 300 pesos for a box. But here there's definitely no mac-n-cheese, so it works out perfectly. I'm glad you sent some. I've used the pitch pipe many times this week.
I've probably eaten 10 mangoes in the last 5 days. We have mango trees all around our house. Every few hours we hear a mango or two hitting the tin roof, and I feel like we're under attack. It's really loud.

I love being here. The people here are so sweet and hospitable and friendly. There aren't any big distractions from going to church or living the gospel. It's so unworldly here. It's paradise.
I wish I could tell you more, but I still need to send the pictures. Btw thank you for the updates and all of the pictures you sent.


[sent June 15]
I'm very blessed to be here in the Philippines, and I'm very blessed to have so many people who care enough about me to write to me and send me emails. I always look forward to the many emails that I receive every week, even if I have very little time to read them.
The encouragement and support that I receive from home makes me feel important and loved. I miss you all, but I've never been home sick. I was told that after 2 weeks I would begin to be homesick. I distinctly remember that never happening. I know it's not because I don't love you; I love all of you tons; it's because ever since I said goodbye and walked on the first plane I haven't looked back. I've accepted from day one that this is my new life. I know that the person that I become on my mission is who I need to be. I want to see all of you again, and I know that I will so I have no reason to be sad. Even if I had time to be sad.
If you miss me, do missionary work. That will help you take your mind off of it and also missionary work in and of itself makes you happy.
There's a great force that moves the work that I'm engaged in, and it's not the missionaries. The force behind everything that I do is the Lord, and His love and His plan are for every man. I've felt His influence in this work, I know that he truly goes before me and prepares the way and as I work he is on my right hand and on my left and His angels are there to bear me up.
I'm forever grateful for the grace that so fully he proffers me and everyone. I love this work because of the joy that our message brings to the hearts of those that are willing to change. The great plan of happiness is the most joyous message that we have to offer. And sharing it comes naturally. 

[sent June 22]
You should know that you're all loved. I think about you frequently. I know you have been busy, but my offer is still good. I will reply to any letter that you send to me. Also, I will write 2 pages for every 1 page that you write. Just keep that in mind. :)

I've had a great week. I feel like there's finally nothing holding me back from being an effective tool for the Lord. I'm getting along well with my companion; Elder Espano (with a tilde). He's very easy going and he's a very devoted missionary. I've learned a lot about teaching the gospel from him. 


Amanda and I had a great time chatting [by e-mail] last week, but I don't want any of you to feel excused from sending me long letters because you are waiting for me to get online. It's much better if you send me an email and then wait to see if I get online, because then if I do I get online we have something to talk about and if I don't get on until after you go to bed, then you'll get to read my reply the next day. If you keep waiting for me to email you you're going to be waiting a long time. I promise you I'm at least as busy as you if not busier. Don't hesitate to write to me. Your emails are precious to me; more than you know.


[sent June 29]

I have so much to tell you. I forgot to tell you last week that someone stole 1500 pesos from me 2 weeks ago. That's alright though. I have an enormous 8000 peso emergency fund. I played the piano in the last two sacrament meetings; I just got a new mission president yesterday; I've been taking my multivitamins everyday for the last 4 weeks; I gave a talk in sacrament meeting a week ago, and it was in Tagalog. 

There, that's all the stuff I've been waiting to tell you. Also I've thought of something else I want you to send to me. A piano. One of those roll-up ones. I miss having a piano nearby. The only pianos here are in the church buildings.

I really feel like I'm in the wilderness sometimes. When we travel the 3 hours south to get to our Zone meetings all I see are trees, and forests and occasionally rice fields.

I've been doing a lot of missionary work. We plan to have 2 baptisms this Saturday. I'll tell you all about them next week. I'm baptizing at least one of them. :)

I miss you guys a lot, but I'm sure you know that I love you and I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm helping people come unto Jesus. It's the best job ever. 

I've been thinking lately that maybe the reason that we wear our missionary tags on our chest is so that they're at eye level for those that we teach. But actually, some Philipinos look up to read my name tag. So that theory is void. Oh, well.

I miss you, as I said. Continue to learn and grow while I'm gone, because I sure am. I love you!!


Monday, June 9, 2014

Ready For First Transfer

[sent May 5]


There are very many things about being a missionary that make me happy. 
When I teach and the investigator understands.
When the kids say 'Hey, Joe'
When I go to a members house and they give us a snack.
When I get to go to the temple.
When there are 3 different members that want to work with us.
When the members who feed tell me to eat more.
When kids ask me what my name is.
When I think of a scripture to use during the lesson and I remember where it is.
When it rains.
When it's windy.
When our recent converts bear their testimony in Sacrament meeting and the bishop and his counselors cry.
When I get to email and write to people that I love.
When they email and write me.


[sent May 11]
A lot can happen in 15 days. Here on my mission I have been able to use my time more wisely and more effectively than ever before. In the last 15 days I read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover. I was surprised by the speed I was able to read it. Of course it was in English, but still 15 days doesn't seem like a reasonably amount of time to read a 500 page book, especially if you're work 8 hours a day teaching people about the doctrines therein. So how did I do it?
As with anything that is done there must needs be a reason. My reason for reading the Book of Mormon was to become familiar with the doctrines of the gospel so that I could teach them better and more clearly. I also desired to finish the Book of Mormon before Mother's Day as a gift to my mom. Showing her that I'm doing what's right and I'm feasting on the word, and that my mission is transforming me into a student of the gospel.
However, this would not have been enough if it weren't for my time management. I read the Book of Mormon for an hour everyday, sometimes a little bit more, but never less. If I continue to read it for an hour everyday I could finish the entire book 30 times before I come home. Then, how great of a tool could I be in the Lord's hands? How well would I know the good word of God? How great would be my blessings and the blessings of those I taught?
An hour a day is all it takes to become great at something. An hour a day is the difference between mediocrity and greatness. If you do push ups for an hour every day then you'll become an expert at push ups. People will know you as 'the guy that does push ups'. If you play piano for an hour everyday then you'll become 'the one who plays piano'. Then what if you pray for an hour a day?
What would people say about you? What if you read the scriptures for an hour everyday? And then what if you read it for 2 hours?
The Lord has given us the gift of our lives so that we may grow and have joy. The Lord gives us 24 hours every single day of our lives. He has given us bodies that require less than 10 hours of rest per day. We have 14 hours a day to do with whatever we desire. If we tithe those hours then we owe the Lord at least an hour everyday. The Lord has promised to bless us as we follow his commandments. There is no other way he can bless us. He cannot bless us if we have not been diligent with the things he has already blessed us with.
Use your time wisely. This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God.

[sent May 18, 25]

Truly, the hardest part of my work is agency. Every person that we teach can choose to keep their commitments or not. Of course they also have the choice of whether or not they listen to us at all, but a lot of people are humble enough to listen to us. I really love all of the people that we are teaching. I want what's best for them, and I wish I could drag them to church and show them that it's true, I wish I could do their Book of Mormon reading for them and say their prayers for them, and do everything for them that they might be happy and blessed for time and all eternity, but I can't. This past Sunday none of our investigators came to church, and we invited all of them. Many of them even said that they would be there, but they all used their agency to do otherwise.
There are some days when I wish they didn't have agency and I wish that when we invited them to come they would just come, but I know that without agency, there would be no purpose for missionary work and no need for a church, no need for a Savior, no plan of happiness, no happiness, no sin and no joy. For if there was no agency no man could be rewarded for his actions, because his actions would not really be his. I know that if there was no agency then the sweet mother who prays to God everynight and walks 5 miles to church every Sunday would not be rewarded any more than the mother who does nothing. We need agency.

Because of agency we have great reason to rejoice. None of our investigators came to church yesterday, but all 7 of our recent converts did and so did more than a hundred others. We can truly rejoice because of them and because of how they used their agency they will be blessed. I know that the Lord loves each of His children and I will never give up on those that don't come to church, but I will rejoice for those that do.

There's a lot that's happened in the last week. I wish I could tell you everything, but I'm running short on time. I want you all to know that I'm thinking about you and praying for you, and I'm doing great. I'm eating well, the members here are great about feeding us.

I'm adjusting very well to the weather and the people and the environment here. I feel like I'm home, but this place is nothing like Oregon. I'm really excited about transfers, I've already started packing. My days and weeks are flying by. I'm working all the time and I'm enjoying it. I'm learning that it's not about me. None of it is about me. This life is all about the Lord and doing his work.

Love, Daniel

Sunday, April 27, 2014

More Experiences in First Area

[sent March/April]

Mar. 17
This last week 7 of my investigators were baptized. I only baptized 2 of them myself. The baptism was awesome. We got there almost 3 hours early to prepare, but it only took about an hour or two to set everything up. There were 3 special musical numbers, and I wasn't part of any of them. But while one of the groups was practicing I walked over to them and tried to read the music and it was in English, but it was a song I'd never heard before. But I was trying to sing it. First the soprano part then the alto part a little bit. Then I realized that there was a Tenor part so I tried singing that and of course by this time they asked me if I wanted to sing with them and I said yes. So we practiced it for about another 20 minutes and then we decided that I should sing the bass part. So I looked over it and I figured it out. It wasn't too hard; part of it was unison. So then towards the end of the baptismal program I sang it with them. It was fun. :)

Mark Partosa says I baptized him like a mop. I'm not sure what that means. Sister Dussel was the other person that I got to baptize. :)



Mar. 24
In our apartment we have a new missionary. He's been out for 7 months, but to us he's new. His name is Elder Merrill he's from Bountiful, Utah. It's been really nice to have another American in our apartment. Thank goodness for him. 

Today is my 96th day in the Philippines. I don't want to count the days that I have left, so I'll just count the days that I've been here. :)

The Filipinos are an amusing people in many ways. I find it very amusing every time I see a license plate that says 'for registration' or 'no plate available' especially when this plate is actually just a piece of cardboard on the back of their vehicle. When I ask my companion about the legality of this he just says with a smile: "It's the Philippines, nobody cares."

Btw I tried doing a hundred pushups in a day and it's really hard. I did about 32 and that was 5 days ago. If you're still doing that, keep up the good work. I expect that you'll be bigger and stronger than me when I come home. I just need to accept that. :)

I told my first joke in Tagalog last week. We were scheduling a return appointment with one of our investigators and she said we could come back at six the next day and I said: "Sa umaga?" (in the morning?) It wasn't that good, but I got a laugh out of it. 

Everyone who sees my family picture says Trevor is their favorite. They call him pogi.



Apr. 6
I suppose a lot has happened since I last emailed. I do a lot of interesting things as a missionary. I only recently realized that most of my experiences and all of the lessons that I teach, are between 1 pm and 8 pm, or 10 pm and 5 am, which is when you people in America are sleeping.
When I'm riding around on Jeepneys you're sleeping. When I'm giving high fives to the Filipino kids you're sleeping. When I'm teaching people about the gospel and committing them to follow his commandments you're sleeping. And when I'm walking about the streets of Manila in the heat of the blazing sun you're sleeping.
You get to sleep the whole time I'm working. I hope you're enjoying yourselves. :)
I can't believe how big Jonah is. I almost didn't recognize him. I bet Isaac is 6 ft tall now. How about Kelvin? What did everyone get for their birthdays? I heard about the tablets and the bike. However, I haven't seen pictures yet. You can always send more pictures. When I get pictures I put them on my mp3 player. Pictures really help me to feel what it's like at home. Someone send me some pictures from around the house. Does the Family room still look the same? What about Kelvin's Room?
One of the Elders in our apartment is named Manny Ramirez Rosario. I'm trying to figure out if he was named after Manny Ramirez the baseball player. He's 25 years old. Was Manny Ramirez playing baseball 25 years ago??
Yesterday, at church two of our recent converts got up and bore their testimonies. They were amazing. Sister Dussel Colis and Sister Partosa. Sister Partosa is the single mother that's raising 7 kids and was relocated here by Yolanda. Her testimony was about how when her family didn't have enough money to go to church in Tacloban she prayed and asked God if He would provide a way for them to go. She and her family were able to go because of 500 pesos that she found the next day in some old jeans.

I'm not sure why, but her testimony really touched me. It was the second time I'd heard it, and it was in Tagalog, but the Spirit was really strong and I could understand what she was saying. I cried a lot. Some of my other investigators asked if I was okay. It was the strongest I've felt the Spirit since I got here.


Apr. 14
Thank you for your emails and for all of the pictures. I'm putting them on my mp3 player. I'm really glad that you guys are doing so much. I miss having sports games to go to everyday. William and Jonah are cute in there baseball uniforms and they look big. I guess you're feeding them well. 

I've had a very exciting and full week. On Wednesday we had MTC exchanges, which means the normal missionaries get paired with the missionaries that are still training in the MTC. I got to work with Elder Pickford, from Australia. I was the leading and I was the senior companion. I taught most of the lessons by myself and I was actually okay at it. We taught our recent convert families about prophets and invited them to watch General Conference. I had a great time teaching and being in charge. It was fun. I feel like Elder Pickford really looks up to me. I tried to teach him things that would help him and I tried to be a good example. I hope he learned as much from me as I learned from him.

After that, on Thursday, we had exchanges again, and I was again leading my area. I had exchanges with Elder Rosario. I was glad he was there to clarify some of the things I said. I didn't teach as much that day as I did on Wednesday, but I was glad to see that I could teach much more than just a small part of a lesson.

After that we had a few normal days, and then we had General Conference. I love and appreciate General Conference so much more now. I love being a missionary. I took notes like I never have before. I think there were 15 pages of notes from all of the sessions. Some of the notes took up a page per talk. I received a lot of revelation as to how I ought to be teaching and what I ought to be teaching. I was thinking of my investigators during most of the talks. I was really pleased with Elder Holland's talk, and I felt the spirit most during Elder Bednar's talk. But they were all great, and I took something from each of them. Even the Primary General President said things that I can apply in my life.

I never thank you enough for all of the things that you've done and are doing for me. You brought me into this world and along with Dad you raised me from a frail baby to the man I am today. Thank you. Thank you for all of the sacrifices you made so that I could be happy. Thank you for all of the patience you had with me. Thank you so very much for not ever giving up on me. I've always had you to lean on and I don't know where I would be now without that. Thank you for your guidance and your love.

I was at a dinner at a member's house when they started looking for me on Facebook. I told them my first name and they searched for me, but there were many Daniel Southwicks and we couldn't find me. So I told them to search for Isaac Southwick, that's my brother, and you can find me in his friends. His name is more unique. The same thing happened. There were so many Isaac Southwicks that we couldn't find the right one. Then I said try Kelvin Southwick. There was one result. :) Thank you for giving Kelvin such a unique name. He's the only Kelvin Southwick on all of Facebook. 

Today has been an awesome day. We had the great privilege of playing tennis today near the mission home. It was really hot, and we played for an hour. I was sweating so much that I felt like I was going to collapse.


Anyway, I have to go. Thank you again. I'll talk to you next week.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Settling in to Bonifacio

[sent late Feb./early Mar. 2014]


Feb. 24
I'm trying to write to a lot of people today. I don't even have time to read the emails you send me, I have to print them out and read them later. But I hope you like the pictures. If I sacrifice sending pictures next week then I'll have more time to write to you guys. I'm sorry about this week. I'm doing fine, but the work is hard. I still don't teach much of the lessons, but I guess I'm staring to understand what's going on. I'll be happy to read your letters and I hope everything's going great at home. I miss you guys. When did Elijah become a young man? I can't believe that he's growing up so fast. When's Amanda going to get married, and when's Kelvin going to get his papers in? I have an investigator that looks like William. He's 8 and his name is Mark. He might be my first baptism. :)


Mar. 3
I've discovered that I don't have time to email everyone that I want to. At least not individually. But I'll take the time to write a nice big letter today for all of you, especially my family. I'd like to remind each of you that I sent 6 letters last month so I expect to have lots of mail coming my way.
The mission is awesome, sometimes it's not, but the good times really outweigh the bad. My area is great. Elder Bustamante and I have found 7 people already that the Lord has been preparing to be baptized. I'm glad that my companion speaks Tagalog, because I still speak like a 2 year old.
I'm not struggling in many aspects of the mission work, but there is one area that I can't seem to deal with, and that's "change." Everyday we sit down and plan our day, and every week we sit down and plan our week, but our plans don't determine what happens, I wish they did. I wish planning 3 lessons meant we would have 3 lessons that day. I wish that when 11 of our investigators said they would come to church that 11 of them actually would. If things like that were more predictable then I really wouldn't have anything to stress about.
Anyway, I'm glad that people have agency and that things don't always go according to plan. It makes life stressful, but it makes life exciting. And you never know when a good surprise is coming.
I'm glad that I have the trials that I do in my life. I know that if my foundation is the gospel of Jesus Christ then my trials will truly make me stronger. I'm glad that among all of the things that are changing the gospel is always the same.
Thank you for everything, and keep writing/typing. :)


Mar. 10
I'm doing great. I'm not tired anymore. I'm not sick anymore. I have my first baptism on Saturday. I'm figuring out how to budget, and I've just figured out how to send pictures. I'm happy and the Lord is blessing me. I'm not getting as many bug bites as I used to. I'm learning how to teach in Tagalog little by little. I got to play Nearer My God To Thee in sacrament meeting yesterday. I'm happy, and healthy and I'm not homesick, which is good. I'm learning how to plan and use time wisely. I feel like I wasted the last 3 months before my mission. Besides underwater audio I did nothing, I was so unproductive that it makes me wonder what I did do for those 3 months. I was a squanderer. You'll be happy to know that I'm not a squanderer anymore. I'm very productive, everyday. 
I miss you and everyone else at home. I miss coming home to Trevor, and William and Jonah. I miss watching shows with Elijah, I miss playing basketball with Isaac, I miss driving Kelvin everywhere. I miss Amanda in general. And I miss you and Dad. I never appreciated how great you two are at parenting and how much you do for all of us kids. But I'm starting to now. :)

Daniel at the mission home with Mission President Stucki and Sister Stucki


Daniel's first area, Bonifacio, is about a runway’s distance from the Manila Airport.