Week 37: Tuesday February 18, 2014

Family,

   Wow! Sooo much has happened this week, I'm not exactly sure where I should start. I guess I'll just start with last Wednesday, one week ago. As I told you, we went on a hike up to some waterfalls last week as a district. It was amazing! I took a lot of pictures! It's was so cool, the entire time I literally felt like I was doing a hike up at Zion, only it's much greener & jungle-ier here. I will try to send photos this week (really!) but the computer I am at is kind of ghetto... Anyway, the day we went on the hike, it was cloudy & raining very lightly. It was perfect! The entire hike was like that & made it bearable since it wasn't blazing hot. I hope the pictures do it justice; it was so fun & so beautiful! We rode in the back of the truck on the way back to our area (the senior couple came along & gave us a ride), when it just start pouring rain! So all of us Elders are in the bed of the truck, getting soaked. It was so cold, I loved it! It was super funny to hear the Filipino elders complain about how cold it was. It was probably mid-70s & raining. Some of them said that they have never been that cold in their life. I just laughed to myself. The ride took about an hour  from our place in Bais, & we dropped the other Elders off in their area about 30 minutes away. While we are driving home, our zone leader gets a call. He can't hear since he is in the back of the truck, so he jumps in the front for the last half of the car ride. When we finally arrive, he gets out & tells me that I am being emergency transferred to Bayawan, a city on the other side of the Island (Negros) which also happens to be the very farthest area in the entire mission from the temple & mission home. It's about 6 or 7 hours away from the city. So, it turns out that my streak of having a new companion every transfer will continue! I am now with Elder Pantilo, another Filipino, who has been out for almost 5 months. He doesn't know a lick of English, so I'm sure my language will continue to improve! But that's not even the best part! We are also housemates with our zone leaders. Elder Antonio was my district leader in my first area & is an awesome missionary. My other zone leader  & housemate just happens to be my fellow St. George-ian, Elder Glines! Man, it's so much fun talking to him! We stay up late & talk every night. We talk about St. George, people we know, etc. It's so great. It really amazes me at how small of a world it really is. What are the chances of living with someone from the same place as me, that I knew before my mission, 7,000 miles away on the other side of the world by complete chance? It's so crazy.

   As you can tell, I'm pretty excited about my new area this transfer. The area is so beautiful! I can tell you all about it & I can send pictures, but I wish with all of my heart that you could all see the things that I see & experience everyday of my life here. It's breathtaking & indescribable.

   On the other hand, I am upset that I left Bais. Rolan passed his interview the day before I left, so him & Alma, his wife, are going to be baptized this Saturday. Also, Bernard & Dimple have already finish their paper work for their marriage, so they will be married this March & baptized shortly thereafter. So many great things happened in Bais, I wish I was there to see the outcome. But I'm also really not that upset about it because I know that I have played a part in changing their lives forever, & I don't have to see them be baptized to know it.

   It was also kind of a cool experience when I left Bais. I left on a Sunday & for sacrament the entire branch started sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again." I've seen 4 missionaries transfer during my stay in Bais, & they didn't do that for any of the others. I'm sure it's just coincidence that they sang that song the day I transferred, but I like to tell myself it was something more than that.

   Well, that's about it for my crazy week! I am super tired from packing to traveling to moving in to working... I need a nap. I will try to send those pictures today. Love you all!

Elder Staheli