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
* * * * * * * *
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
* * * * * * * *
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
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