From Nov.-Dec. 2014

I'm being transferred to Pasay (which is in Manila) on Wednesday. Tell everyone. I'm in the process of saying goodbye to all the members. I love them a lot. I haven't cried yet, but I don't know how much longer that's going to last. I gave a talk in the Magara Sacrament Meeting yesterday, I talked about, pag-ibig sa kapwa, and selflessness. I've been very selfless recently, so it was nice to share about it using real examples. I gave the whole talk in Tagalog, something I've been doing for a while. I don't know if it's exactly right, but I can always get the point across.

I loved the pictures that you sent to me. I'm very humbled to see how much I mean to each one of you. I'm grateful for all of the pictures and emails that you've sent to me. I've recently been terrible with replying to letters, being a senior companion is time-consuming, maybe I'm just not good at delegating yet.

I'm sorry for my lack of communication in general. I've been taking a lot more pictures, but sending them is a very heavy task. I'll be sure to share with you all of my pictures and adventures after my mission, I only have about a year left. 

Love you,

Elder Southwick

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I've been transferred off of Palawan. There, now you all know. :) On the plane ride over here I was sitting next to two random Filipinos. The one on my left had headphones in so I figured I ought to talk to the one on my right. I didn't know how to start the conversation, then I saw something she was reading; "395 Ways to Live a Better Life." One of the ways listed was to "attend a religious service at least once this week" another one was "read a religious book that's unfamiliar." When I read that I knew I had to talk to her. My love for her grew as I saw her desire to have a better life. I wanted more than anything to share the gospel with her, but I didn't want to do it wrong, so I said a prayer, just a little one to let God know that I needed his guidance. Then an idea came. I had a letter from a family in Roxas, and because the whole thing was in Tagalog, I decided that I should ask her to help me translate it. I already understood all of it except one word. "Nag-aantay" I gently got her attention and asked her what it meant. From there I was able to share some of my experiences in Roxas with her, and I told her that I was a missionary. She was very nice. We talked about the plan of salvation and then I brought out the only book I had not packed in my luggage: the Book of Mormon. She had many questions about it. Before I had a chance to introduce it she asked me: "Sino si Mormon?" or "Who is Mormon?" I had the opportunity to teach her about the history of the book. She became quite interested in it and asked many more questions. She also asked many questions about missionaries. I found out that she's going to Manila to be a pre-school teacher. When we landed in the airport we were still talking and she was leading the conversation. I got her phone number and her general address. When I told her that I was 20 she said she's 20 also. I asked her about her birthday and she said it's in December. Unbelieving I said "Anong araw?" or "What day?" December 21 she said. Thousands of miles from home I found a girl who is 9 days younger than me, and certainly now investigating the gospel, and I never would have known that and she would still be searching if I hadn't opened my mouth.

Since I got to Pasay, apart of Manila, I've met many interesting people one who is 2 days older than me and is one of our investigators and he's a Muslim. Crazy how things are here. This is my first P-day since leaving Palawan, and of course I miss the people, but I got to go to the temple today and see my grandparents who now work there. See Pictures.

Also a few days ago I got to go to MOA. If you don't know what that is look it up. We went to Burger King. It was the first time I've been there in a year. It was almost as good as I remember it. I'm very happy here. Don't worry about me. My life is great. I'm just a LRT ride away from my first area.. I wish I could visit. Maybe at the temple someday.

I got a package from my loving family on November 19. FYI, the candy and snacks are all gone now and the letters have all been read at least once thank you all for your love and time. Please keep me updated on your busy lives. I look forward to hearing from all of you. :)

Love you all,

-Elder Southwick

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Dear Family and Friends,

I've been in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Philippines for about 2 weeks now. I used to be in Palawan which is a big island that is more than a hundred miles from here. When I first came here I felt some of the same feelings that I felt when I first arrived in the Philippines. Here are the changes that I've had to re-adjust to these last few weeks:

1. Where there were lizards, there are now cockroaches.

2. Where there were dirt roads, there are now stairs.

3. Where there were dogs, there are now kids.

4. Where I once traveled by bus, I now travel by jeepney.

5. When I once heard thunder and dogs, I now hear traffic and planes.

6. My area was 37 sq km (23 sq mi), now it's 0.9 sq km (0.5 sq mi).

7. I used to see maybe 100- 200 people in a day, now I see thousands and thousands.

8. I lost my glasses in my last week in Palawan, and haven't yet replaced them.

9. I used to eat at a local restaurant on special occasions, today I'm eating at one of the biggest malls in Asia and my grandparents might be there.

10. I can send an email without waiting for an hour.

My life is great. I miss the way things were, but I'm happy with the changes; most of them.

Keep me updated on your busy lives. I'll keep you updated on mine. 

-Elder Southwick

* * * * * * * *

Dear Friends and Family,

For most of you I've been away for a long time. I sure miss each one of you. I've been doing great recently. We haven't had a lot of success in our area recently, but I'm not getting down on that. We might baptize a few people in January, but we do not plan on having any more this year. Right now we're just finding people that we can teach, we have about 30 potential investigators, but the hard part is finding time to teach them. They're always busy, or sometimes we can't teach them because there's no 3rd lalaki. 

I'm still feeling very lost in our area. I don't know where anyone lives or how to get there. If Elder Seculles gets transferred then I will surely perish. I actually know where one family lives, but that is the extent of my knowledge. The entire area is completely different than Roxas, and I'm having a hard time adjusting to the geography. 

Now, about Ruby. For some reason she's late. We were all expecting her last night, but she's still not here. She's close. it started raining about an hour ago, but that's all I've experienced so far. I am not impressed. However, some of the members in our area are from Dolores, Samar, which is directly in the path and has already been hit. They're pretty devastated..

In other news, I finally got some new glasses, they were fairly expensive, but I have enough money left to last until the next support cycle. I'm very glad to finally be able to see clearly. All that time living in a blur. All that time never really seeing things the way they were and at last I see the light.

I've also been rather sick the last few days. I've had a cold and a headache and a fever and I've been feeling weak. But I'll probably have some time to rest as we wait for the storm to pass.

I'm always surprised by how many people accept our message and want us to teach them. Missionary work is awesome here or at least it has the potential to be. If only more members were available to work with us. 

All that being said, it's very fun being a missionary. If you haven't tried it you should. :)

As for my family in America, I've been away for a long time, and I'm sorry that you have to spend another Christmas without me, but please know and remember that I'll see you all next Christmas.

Love you guys

-Elder Southwick

* * * * * * * *

At this time of year it's hard to not want to serve those around you. I want desperately to send each and everyone of you something for Christmas, but alas, I'm some seven thousand miles away from most of you. My love goes out to you. I wish I could do more than wish you a merry Christmas, but at least I can share the truth about Christ with those here with me and serve them. These coming days and weeks I will share the spirit of Christ with as many people as I can and I encourage each of you to do the same. It doesn't take much. You don't have to give all of yourself, just a small piece.

Sadly, I have been sick since last week and am still sick. As far as I know it's something called "reactive airways." Like asthma, but not chronic. It's been 11 days now and I still have some symptoms. I get tired and winded pretty easily and that makes it hard to do missionary work, considering how much walking we do. I was even sick on my birthday, and we didn't teach any lessons that day, but for 3 hours we tried to find someone who was available. We've only taught 6 lessons the whole time I've been sick, and 0 in the last 4 days. Count your many blessings. If you are healthy, rejoice and give thanks, and do things that we sick people can't do. I'm not bed ridden or anything like that, but I miss being healthy enough to do missionary work for hours and hours every day. Maybe you could pray for me. It couldn't hurt. I need all the help I can get. I'm taking medication and I have an inhaler now. I'm doing all I can.

I'm looking into buying a voice recorder to better record my life as a missionary. I'll let you know when I find one.

The missionary work this week was very minimal, but next week I'll have more to talk about. This week we have many scheduled choir activities, and I'm excited for those, now that I can kinda sing again. Early Merry Christmas to each one of you. 

Discover the Gift..

Love,

Elder Southwick

From Sep.-Oct. 2014

It's been crazy the last two weeks trying to communicate with you. I've been extremely limited on my email time due to lack of internet here in Palawan. There's plenty of internet cafes, but they're usually full or their internet is on life support. Today I'm emailing earlier than I usually would hoping to beat the crowd. It seems like it worked. I still don't have much time. I love you, and thank you for all of the emails you sent last week. I'm glad that you are all happy and safe. 

* * * * * * * *

I sure have been out for a long time. It really flies by, at least now it does. My new companion is always happy and smiling. He's been out for just 5 months. 

This week we had an interesting experience. We were teaching a lesson in Magara (about 20 km from Roxas) and we finished the lesson at about 7, so we figured we had time to have dinner with the Mesias Family, so we had dinner with them and left at 8. We expected to catch one of the buses going to Roxas, there's usually one about every 30 minutes, but we left late so there weren't any so we started walking. There were many vans that passed by. We tried to hail them, but they rarely stop. After walking for an hour and 20 minutes, we heard a vehicle approaching I didn't turn around I was certain it was a van and wouldn't stop, but it was a bus.. My companion is really nice and he never got angry or upset, but we continued walking. After walking for another hour and a half we saw a tricycle and even though we were too tired to hail it, it stopped. It took us closer to our home, but then we had to walk for another half an hour. When we were almost home (at 11:30) some of the members saw us and made sure we were okay. We finally got home at about 11:50. That was a long Friday.

But now we're fine. :) Love you,

-Elder Southwick

* * * * * * * *

Dear Family,

I'm so deeply infused in missionary work that it doesn't even upset me that none of you have emailed me yet this week. I'm sure you're all busy, and I'm doing just fine. I'm very grateful for the letters and packages that you have sent me. I will always appreciate any communication that I receive from you, but I no longer need it.  

I can walk on my own now. I used to rely on emailing, and now I rely on the Lord. I used to crave the chance to share a few words with a friend who lives 7,000 miles away, now I crave the opportunity to share the gospel with my new-found friends. Now don't get me wrong; I still love all of you and all of the friends that I left in America, but my life no longer revolves around you or them; it now revolves around my investigators, and the members here where I'm serving. 

Of course none of this is an excuse for you to stop communicating with me, just as it would not excuse a discontinuation of my letters of emails to you. You should still email me, and maybe not wait until Sunday, but don't be too concerned about it. I will not wither away without a weekly email from each and every one of you.

I will continue to write to you every week, and I will try harder to reply to your emails more fully and often, but don't be too concerned with me for the next year or so. Go and live your life. I'm thousands of miles away, focus on your own mission. I'll tell you about everything when I get back (I'm writing in my journal every single day), and I'll try to send more pictures when I buy a new camera.(If you've noticed there's been a drought of pictures recently. It's because my camera stopped accepting memory cards.)

If I take a step back and look at my overall situation, I should be upset. There are so many many things that are not going according to plan. You don't even know about half of it. Despite it all, I'm happy and strong and sure that my life is in order. I've been a' walkin' with the Lord for many a day; nothin' gonna stumble, stumble my feet.

Love you,

Elder Southwick

* * * * * * * *

Dear Everyone,

I don't want anyone to feel left out, so this week I decided to write a massive letter to everyone I could think of. I'm sure I didn't remember everyone so I'm sorry if someone you know got left out. Maybe I don't have their email.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'm going to do this every week, but I feel like an update is due for many of you. 

I've been very busy this week: 

On Monday we had P-Day as usual. We emailed, got groceries and all the other usual stuff. We're supposed to start teaching at 6, but we had a few errands to run. By the time we were done with our errands it was dark. Here in Roxas it gets dark, like pitch black in most areas, about 30 minutes after the sun sets. There are very few street lights or stores that are open. Most of the town is asleep at 8pm. We decided to go home instead of walking around in the dark trying to find someone to teach.

On Tuesday we had to leave for Puerto Princesa in the afternoon to be there for the Zone Conference that started in the morning on Wednesday. So we had our studies in the morning and then we traveled for 30 minutes by bus to visit some of the newer members in Magara. It's on the way to Puerto so I thought we could just stop by. We hadn't visited them in about a week. Also, one of them had a birthday. We brought him a present (a small rain stick) and we gave all of the kids Temple Book of Mormon Reading Charts. Then we went back to the main road and waited for a bus. We waited for about 5 minutes and then a van stopped for us. Usually vans don't stop, but this one did. The driver came out walked around and opened the door, and we saw the 4 missionaries from Taytay. Their area is about 2 hours further north than our area. It was not our plan to ride with them, but we did. We talked a little bit about the work, but then we sat in silence and endured the 3 hours left of our journey. When we got to Puerto, Elder Moris and I went to the Mall in Puerto. Which is probably the only one in Palawan. We shopped there. I bought 6 ties (50 pesos each) and lots of other useful things that I couldn't find in Roxas. Then we went to the Zone Leaders apartment and stayed the night. 

On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference. It was the first one that I have been at where President Ostler was teaching. I learned a lot. I could write pages about what I learned there, but it sufficeth me to say, I learned a lot. 

On Thursday we had our studies and then we went to Abaroan which is about 15 minutes by bus and then 15 minutes by tricycle away from our apartment. We taught them about the Law of Chastity and they all committed to live it. Jared, Jerhson, and Alvin. They're all related to members, but they aren't baptized. Not yet.:)

On Friday we went to Magara and taught the Brother Española about the Book of Mormon. He's a new investigator. He seems very accepting of our message. Then we went to the Trasmil house, (where Jared and Jerhson live) and taught Jared, Jerhson, Alvin, Brenda and Justin Mae about the 10 Commandments and the Role of Prophets in the Church.

On Saturday we went to Caramay which is about 35 minutes away from Roxas by bus. Then we took a tricycle ride for 10 minutes to get to the house of Brother Cacatian. He's married to a Return Missionary, but he's not yet a member. We taught him about Prophets and the Commandments and the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom, and he's committed to living all of them. Most investigators have some sort of problem with at least one of the laws or ordinances, but he doesn't seem to have any. He also comes to church every week. We actually met him at church and then we visited him at his home. Him and the Alvin and Jared and Jerhson are scheduled to be baptized on October 18, and they're really progressing. Brother Cacatian and Jared and Jerhson all want me to baptize them. I'm really grateful for the opportunity. I hope I can make their baptismal service a memorable one. I'm pretty much responsible for planning and carrying out that service. It will be fun.  After teaching him, we taught Jared, Jerhson, Alvin, Brenda and Justin Mae about the Law of Tithing and the Sabbath Day. They're awesome. They need baptism.

On Sunday we had church of course and for the first time in forever, Brenda and Justin Mae Bajan came to church. Even though their mom (who is a member) doesn't come to church. They were so happy to be there. The Bajan family brought them. They are only 10 and 8. I was lubos na masaya kapag nakita ko sila sa simbahan. Sinabi nila 'Magsisimba kami' maraming beces dating. Pero nagsimba sila. Noon halos iiyak ako.

My week has been awesome, but the best is yet to come. I hope to be able to share more about them with all of you great people. Don't feel like you have to send a huge reply to this. I only have an hour to read and send emails. :)

I'm very happy here. Don't worry about me. 

Love,

Elder Southwick

* * * * * * * *

Dear People,

This week was like many of the previous weeks except that on Saturday we had 4 baptisms.

Name                     Baptizer                   Age   Information

Jared Trasmil               Elder Southwick       12           Mom and Dad are Members

Jerhson Trasmil          Elder Southwick       10           Brother of Jared

Alvin Ogatis                 Elder Moris                        10   Uncle of Jared and Jerhson

Ferdinand Cacatian         Elder Southwick               45           Married to a Return Missionary

I don’t have time to tell you more about them, I’ve been handling a lot of the logistical things recently, and I’m always running low on time, no matter how carefully we plan.

I'll try to send pictures..

Love,

Elder Southwick