Second Week in the Work

Hi Mom.

My second week in the work, and it's already super interesting.

I learned I will be in this area until February. My trainer leaves in November. so, This will be my home for quite a while. I enjoy it a lot here though. Everyone is super nice and open to you, especially when your a six foot white american who speaks waray. They seem fascinated by that. I can talk with people a little better, and I can actually understand a little bit. It is a real blessing. in fact, I can teach the message about the restoration, which has 8 points to cover. The gift of tongues is real, and Elder Dela Cruz is an amazing teacher and an amazing companion. He has an amazing drive for teaching and is great at basketball. We have been getting along amazingly.

today, we went out in the morning with T (one of our investigators) and we went hunting for coconuts. we find a tree, and his son climbs up the tree with his machete and cuts down 8 or so coconuts. Then T starts cutting them, and we get the meat out. the water is also SO good and fresh. then, we took a big container of the meat, filled it with the water, filled it with condensed milk, and a few saltines. stir it up, and eat; it is so good! the food here is so good, and there is plenty of it wherever we go. the people here value Generosity and Family over everything else, and it is amazing to see how they all love to share and care for one another, and that goes double for guests. We had two investigators come to church, and it was the single most exciting moment of my life. When an Investigator comes to church, that usually means that they have some idea that the church is true here. It was amazing. 

Merry christmas as well! christmas is in the air here in the philippines, and people are already excited. there have been parties every night here, and they last for quite a while apparently. they know how to have a party. our neighbor's son had a birthday party, and the dad came over, knocked on the door, and invited us to join in, though I had never met him before. 

There are also lots of police out and about. there is a policeman at pretty much every store in the Philippines, sometimes two for things like banks and pharmacies. They are also super nice, especially to 6 foot white Americans. I say hi to them, and they greet me back with a compliment and a handshake, if they have a hand to spare and their not too busy holding their Assault rifles or shotguns. But, none the less, this place is the best. 

I have been studying the scriptures everyday, and I have gotten more out of them this time then any other time before. I know this is truly the work, and I love being here, despite the hardships. I hope all is well at home, that everyone is doing well, (especially dad) and everything is going well. My new P-day is monday, and I usually write after 1PM local time. that's the plan for the next six months. I will be attaching some photos. one is of Me, my companion, T, and his sons. the other is of our church building. it is smaller then it looks, trust me. lastly, when we were eating our coconuts, the sons went out exploring, and they came back saying they found a monitor lizard. T led us back to his house just a little ways back, said he would be back, grabbed his rifle, and got some neighbors to go get it. they came back 30 minutes later carrying a lizard about as long as my head to knee. it was still alive, so they roped it to a tree, and then they held it still as they finished the job. from what I heard, they can sell that lizard for 300 pesos easily, and that is a lot of money here. I've been told it tastes amazing. maybe one day I can have some.

I love you fam, and hope you are all well.

-Elder Kuehne