293 days left...New Years Eve

Hey fam! So this week was Christmas. It rained really hard, we all said that it was trying to snow. haha wow,  we would have freaked out if it was snowing! it was dark for most of the day so it kind of felt like it should be cold, but when you went outside, you got nailed in the face by 110percent humidity and heat! instant tacos... so we, as the office staff, went around to some of the local areas and caroled for some of the most active members in the ward or branch. we also brought with us gifts. they hey had like 5 kilos of rice, cookies, other little goodies and some other food items. it was fun to do that, even though it was hot.. i have some pictures that i will send to you.. prolly from the office. so this last week was super duper busy preparing for the upcoming transfer week. i made all the certificates of the departing missionaries. holy cow... its a lot! its a bit trunkifying to make all those but not to bad.. ha. so this week i dont really know what to expect. i will let you know next week. but yea...  i had lots of fun talking you all! 

Well love you all.

Love Christian

Ps: shout-out to Brother and Sister Smith from California! your son is very great!!

Questions:

What is Elder Edwards position?  if he's your companion?  does he have a job in the office too?  

He is the mission recorder.

Are you going to miss Elder Dayrit?

Yea.. he is a cool guy.

How is Abigail?  Is that daughter who is sick?  I've been thinking of her alot this week.

Annabelle. She got out of the hospital the other day and is doing great! she is up walking and texting like normal.. hehe

What was your favorite food this week?  Do you ever get to eat with the president's family?

Shawarma... its like a turkish food! its like a giant roast on a vertical stick and they just shave the meat off it and put it in a wrap of sorts. its great!!!

Got any questions for me?  Did you want to add anything to our phone call that you didn't get to say?

No.. i dont think so.. oH Can you check on the status of china? as far as missionaries being assigned there? One of the Elders here said that he knows someone that got called to on a three year mission. the first year in Thailand and the second in mainland China....

I imagine people's houses on stilts that you say the front doors would break down if you knocked on them...are there ladders to get up to their house?  Or how do you do it?

Yea... they all have like a ladder or stair system that goes up to the house.

what kind of bedding is used in the philippines?  like ours? mattress pad? sheets? blankets? comforters? any need ever for blankets? 
we have a four inch mattress that i we use. then we usually have an electric fan blowing on us all night. but i have not been using one for the last month cuz ive been cold at nights.. so i just put on my ninja turtle PJs and sleep in my Malong. (its like a tube blanket, but just a sheet)

Let's have a new cebuano word this week...what shall it be?

how bout a cebuano, waray and tagalog word?? hehe

C: Tikbalang= centaur

W:Tamsy= bird

T:Shokoy=male black evil merman..  

haha (I know I'll be using Shokoy alot!)

300 days left Christmas Eve

We got a treat early this year again...He wanted to talk sooner than he said in his email.  Got to hear him talk, sing, and talk in his many languages.  Wish I could've found a video for the song...They (elders in the office) sang all the verses to Joy to the World in either Cebuano or Waray...It was sooo cool. so.

Here is his sweet but short letter, knowing we would talk soon.

hey,

this will be short as we will be talking shortly...

so i will call on my wednesday, your christmas day. do you want early in the morning or in the afternoon/evening?? maybe i will call tuesday night here so its early christmas day for you guys. so think of all the questions you can and write em down so you dont forget em! umm so just wait for my call mayber around 7 or 8 in the morning your time. i have lots of clocks here that remind me the time in utah.. so dont worry.

OK Love ya'll

Christian

Question
where will you be spending Christmas this year?

I will be in tacloban city, in the office working of hud...

Christian, has your companion transferred yet?

Not yet... he will leave next transfer cycle. in jan 3

What do you miss the most about Christmas at home?

snow, lights, food, snow, music, cold, coats, indoor soccer, etc...

307 days left

Dear mom, 
this last week was our mission tour. With Elder Neilson. he is from twin falls idaho. it was cool. he is a really nice guy. He gave us some good trainings and great advice. its pretty stressful being here making sure everything is running smoothly, picking up general authorities and driving them places.. I got my license this last week. i like driving. i havent done it for some time now... its weird. we went finding the other night and found three new investigators. hopefully, they will work out.

Im sorry this is kind of a weak letter, but i dont have any more exciting things that happened this week.

I love you all,

Love Christian

questions:

How was the tour with the area authorities this week?

It was great@

Best thing/funny that happened in the office this week?

i dont really remember anything that stood out this week.

When is your baptism date scheduled for J.?

Not yet.. he wasnt able to come to church this last week cuz he couldnt leave work.

Package yet?...you can open now the book package and whatever else you want...how do i know...it just won't be as fun on christmas...

not yet... im still waiting.. i thought it would have been here by today, maybe later this week.

314 days left

Hello Mom.
Im doing pretty good.

So update on the storm.. HOLY COW!!! it was a dud... nothing happened in our mission... in fact, some areas had sunny skies... haha we were all so disappointed.. The whole mission was totally not affected at all. it rained a bit here and there but thats it... no wind no nothin...Davao is pretty far away from us. 

so this week was our christmas conference.. My first and last. ha.. we as office elders were staff of all the activities and the programs. we missed a Lot of sleep last week. one night we stayed at the office till 2am then went home and slept till 430 then went and picked up missionaries for the program. The program went something like this. Each zone made a skit and performed it in front of the whole mission. then we had a white elephant thing...... It was ok.. i gave some wooden snakes and got some scrapbooking sticker junk... yea.... then we had a devotional program where president spoke and some elders sang... it was really fun. 
These next couple days, we have mission tour. One of the area people are coming here and giving a training . it should be good too.

we had some good lessons with our investigators.. we committed one to be baptized. He is still doing great. his name is J.

yeah.. thats about it for this week. Love you!
Love Christian

questions:

what damage was there by you? if any?

none...

what is your fav thing so far in the office?

im not sure yet... i dont love it yet..

is the office the same place as the mission home? like where does the mission president and his family live?

we are adjacent to the mission home.. about a 12 second walk away..

how many people are in the mission president's family? and their ages?

President, sister, A- 17ish.., A 12, A 14, G 9

how are you feeling? did you catch what the other missionary had?

Nope.. thank goodness... ive been eating little oranges like crazy!! they are called Kiat Kiats. they are like clementines..

i'm know i'm wishful thinking...but did you get the package yet?

not yet, hopefully tomorrow... there are like 15 they said..

are any missionaries...now doing clean up work where the typhoon went through?

nope..

being in tacloban now for a little bit...what do you miss about catarman? (i'm pretty sure you're going to say the people...but anything else? or what people specifically?)

Just the people... i miss all my investigators. Brother P, other families and a bunch of other people...

day...oh I don't know...

After hearing about the typhoon on the news last night...some of you have asked how Christian is doing.  And...I don't actually know how HE is doing.  In his letter last time he mentioned knowing that he was getting ready and making preparations for typhoon pablo (or bopha as it's called in the Philippines) so everyday since then I have tracked where the the typhoon's path was going to be.  It looks like it has not hit his island. But I think he may have had a lot of rain.

Anyhoo...in searching for this typhoon I found a very informative blog that has many live updates.  I have added it to the weather section of the side bar on the left. (right above the clock)

On a good note...when he had his earthquake before...he emailed me during the week to make I knew he was ok.  I'm going on the old saying...no news is good news.  (unless the electricity is out...)

Sad news though the island (mindanao) specifically Cateel, Davao Oriental that did get hit has lost (last count) over 500 people (with 400 more missing).  That's a lot of people.  That's a lot of families loosing someone.  Houses and businesses were washed away on the outskirts of the island.

Thanks for your concern about Christian.  I'll keep you posted should he email me.

322 days left

So... this week  In the office.

Well i started my training, its mostly just like, "elder smith do this, elder smith make the copies"... pretty great.... but, we did have two lessons this week. Our investigators are really awesome! we met with a guy named Johnathan for the second time and when we started, he said " i believe everything you guys tell me." he has come to church for two weeks in a row. this guy looks very promising. i think he will be baptized soon. anyways, im making the best out of the office, its a lot of stuff to do and huge responsibility being President Andayas personal secretary.. ive already been through mission presidency meetings and heard lots of confidential stuff.. its kinda cool being part of it all... 

One side of my throat kinda hurts, one of the Aps is sick and i think i might be getting a bit of it... but oh well.. 

There is a "super typhoon that is coming in in the next few days, we are taking every precaution and being safe. it is slowing down as it gets closer to us.. so it shouldnt be soo bad. Its called Pablo. 

Ive been lifting weights hardcore with everyone at my apartment, im getting super buff. hopefully i can keep the fat away from being in the office. The office elders have a tendency to get fat....

Well i wish all of you the best and i love you.

Love Christian

I would like to send sonny a letter. where should I send it?

just send it to me and i will send it to his ward..

Will you be calling from the mission home?

i dont think so, as mission secretary, i have my own cell phone with unlimited calls worldwide. so from my phone.

what's your companion/s like? where are they from? how long have they been out?

well one is huge and is a nerd, and loves to eat. He is a great nerdy guy. he is really nice. The other is a small super large super guapo guy from Manila. he speaks perfect english, his hobbies include speaking with an Australian accent and smelling like a boss. hahaha they are both great. the american is from Lindon. Right next to wal-mart.

so, do you think that the food is better than you thought it would be?  Have you had to "suffer" through some stuff?  

...oh yes... i have suffered through lots of stuff. every time i eat with president, i shove all the vegetables down my throat...  i still hate them all... i do have a new fruit that i love! its called Pankan. its like mandarin oranges. but the whole thing... i love them soooooo much!!!

And now, the instant questions...(love when we get to "chat" back and forth).  it's special.

when you say precautions, what exactly does that mean?

precautions, buying rope and other floating devices, buying extra food, lights ect... just planning for the worst...

do you board up the windows?

nope the windows are super strong

Since you're being trained by Elder dayrit...and your real companion is elder edwards are you all three sharing the apartment together?

its us three and the Aps.. so five of us total. soon to be 4 when Elder Dayrit leaves.  He'll transfer out the next transfer.

do all 5 of you go and do email together? laundry together? etc.?

We all five email together, we take turns with the washing machine and stuff... we kinda do laundry whenever we want cuz its easy now.. hehe