Hello Family and
Everyone Else!
Well this email is
coming in later than normal because I went to the Banaue rice terraces
today! It has been a long day to say the rest. I feel like it should be 8
at night right now haha. We had to wake up at 2 am to go to Banaue
because a couple of people wanted to see the sunrise. Now I was not
opposed to this idea, but after the sacrifice of sleep I made, I was expecting
to see that sunrise. Sadly, since Banaue is in the mountains, the
MOUNTAINS blocked the sunrise!!!!! Oh well, at least the weather was very
cool, I actually felt like I was back home for a second!
We hiked a long
ways. Elder Ishibashi wanted to go to this little hut way up in the
terraces. Basically, we trekked down into a ravine with a river then
climbed up the other side to past the elevation we had been at to finally
arrive at the hut. It was a pretty good hike. l've learned that I am
out of shape recently, but I will get into why a little later. Anyways,
my journey to the hut, included me almost falling off a terrace three times,
getting half my body covered in mud, and of course when I reached the top the
other Elders started to think I was going crazy because I was very dizzy and
singing about hiking. I think I may have made their days with that one,
but man that was a good hike. I also have many pictures of the terraces,
so you will be very happy!
While I was in Banaue, I bought a dragon
carving, I took a picture of it, and a special kind of blade! I got both
for under $10 bucks which I call a successful day! Overall, it was a fun
trip. I enjoyed doing some good exercise and joking around with the other
Elders. So this week was the week of CSPs or service projects! I
had 2 service projects in a row this week on Friday and Saturday. The one
on Friday was pretty dang brutal and is the reason why I say I definitely need
to be doing some more cardio exercises! On Friday morning at 8 am sharp
we went to a members house. It was just Elder Tabudlong, me, and the
member who was a heavier set man. Our job was to shovel out a huge pile
of dirt and rocks. I'm talking it was chest high on me and was about the
width of the road. It was one huge pile! Now I was working pretty
hard like I normally do. What I didn't realize right away, was how
physically demanding shoveling rocks is. After an hour of working hard, I
noticed my heart was pounding and my stomach wasn't feeling too good. So I
took a 5 minute rest, but its still really hot that morning. I get a
burst of energy and start going hard again. About 5 minutes later the
first urge came... Now I pride myself in being able to say I have never puked
from working out. Never! Until Friday at 9:08 am. I puked 3 times
into a small stream. The rest of that day was pretty hard but I stuck it
out!
When we got home that night, we received another text from one of
our Leaders giving us two options, we either go to an emergency service project
the next morning or help out with the one day mini mission. At this point
I was laying on my bed thinking about how much a wheelchair costs in the
Philippines. My companion and I decided it was better to go to the CSP,
so we would have about an hour break before we went out to work. That CSP was a little easier, I only had to move cement bags and paint. I learned
that I can really push myself to my limits when i want to this past week.
It was pretty cool.
I never thought I was pushing myself hard enough, but
now that I have come on a mission, I have changed and my will and determination
have increased! Now I am not saying it was good that I puked, but the
fact that I alone pushed myself to my absolute limits showed me just how much I
have come along on my mission. I truly believe that I can accomplish anything
I want in my life as long as I have the desire!
Our work is going pretty good
too! We are really getting help from our Single Adults and Return
Missionaries to come work with us and fellowship. We do not have any
baptisms yet, but I know that it will come. I just need to keep bringing
the desire and motivation to do so! It has been a pretty full week and I
am just a little tired right now, but this has been a great learning week for
me. It is so awesome to see first hand how I have changed. I am no
longer the weakling who puts down my dumbbell when I have 2 more reps to
do! I do 5 more reps instead! We all need to keep building our
faith daily, and the best way is through constant prayer and a positive
(humorous) attitude!
Well everyone enjoy all of these beautiful photos of
me surviving the rice terraces and I love you all!
Love,
Elder Warren
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