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 Española 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
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