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. :)
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.
:)
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| 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.
