Muddy Trails!

Has it really been 34 weeks???

Wow, well hello Family, Friends, Acquaintances, and all of you in between!  

I am doing pretty good this week.  Dad, first off, I got you more pictures.  I know, your welcome.  Anyways I am writing this email after consuming 3 pepsis in a row.  Here in the Philippines water is not really an option besides when I am at the appartment, so Pepsi and Coke are really my next best choice!  

So this week was pretty straightforward.  We are starting to have some luck with investigators thanks to our awesome branch president!  He invites young men over to our FHEs and then takes them with him to church!  We owe him a lot of credit on helping these people progress in the church.  We have begun teaching them and it is kind of funny to see these young men because its like looking at how I was like at that age.  They start off acting cool and almost like they are embarrassed to be talking to us.  Then when they realize we are pretty cool, they don't stop talking hahaha.  I feel like I might have been like that when I was younger, except maybe a little worse.  I am happy to see that we will have some more investigators attending church.  That is a great sign!  

On another note, one of our Single Adult Sisters finally came back from her job training.  The problem is, she now has to attend church in the Ilagan area which means her family won't be coming to church very much anymore.  It is sad to see that they all go if she comes, but maybe this will be a good thing.  Maybe we can help the family see that they should want to come to church to feel the Spirit for themselves and not just because another family member is going.  

Well one day on our way to an appointment we decided to take a shortcut.  Now this path was pretty steep, but I wasn't too concerned because it is pretty normal here.  What I didn't realize was a single patch of mud after a pretty big step.  Due to my error in calculation I proceeded to slip and get the entire backside of myself covered in mud.  Now this was at 4 in the afternoon.  I still had a good couple of hours to go before we could go home.  For the rest of the day, I got to enjoy dirtying everybody's chair that I sat on.  I also do believe that I have bruised my tail bone which has been forcing me to sit proper.  Too bad it is no longer the 1700s.  

Anyways on the topic of pain, I think I may have lockjaw, but I am not sure.  It will be something to check out in 16 months!  Haha! This week I had some dreams that honestly were about my family Stephen and Andrew.  (I guess they are like step family at this point.)  For the past 2 nights before I went to bed, for some reason I just couldn't stop thinking about you guys and Steve and Drew.  Then I have dreams that I am with you guys and it is honestly super realistic.  Like Jake is picking on Rachael and Steve and Drew are playing games on their phones.  It just made me think that honestly one of the most important things we have in this world is relationships.  These are something we take with us into the next life.  That's one thing I have noticed is special about the Filipinos.  They don't really care about possessions. If you ask them for something, 99% of the time they will just give it to you.  Even if they like it, because to them, whats more important is the relationship that is associated with that gift.  It made me realize why all the Filipino missionaries want a gift of remembrance, it isn't for a gift.  Its to remember the friendships they made during their mission.  

Lately, I have been working on just being a friend to everyone in my area.  Maybe I won't get any baptisms, but instead maybe I will have a whole network of friends who strengthen each other and encourage each other to become better than they are now.  Well that is just an observation I made this week. I love you guys and hope all is well over there. 

Until next week I love you all!

Elder Warren

Wild Attack Cow!