Week 39: Tuesday March 4, 2014

Dear Family,

   I want to start off my letter this week by saying how sorry I am to hear about the passing away of Darin Walker. I have known that he has been struggling with his health the last few years, but this news came as a shock to me, as I'm sure it did to everyone else. I am deeply saddened by his passing away, but I also feel peace knowing that he will not have to continue in pain & suffering. Please let Leslie & the rest of the family that I love them very much & that they are in my prayers at this time.

   I was very happy to read your letters this week, but I was especially excited when I read Casey's! I smiled the whole way through. I am looking forward to hearing what similarities we experience & how you feel about things over here in this wonderful land. I'm glad you made it safely! I want to comment a little bit about some things that you wrote in your e-mail, Casey. First off, it sounds like you are busy & on a very tight schedule. I hope you get some time to explore & see the sights. However, I must say that Manila is very different from the rest of the Philippines. You are right, depending on where you are at, it doesn't feel third-world at all! Especially in Manila, I have heard missionaries say that it feels like they are in California. Also, I think that the biggest mall in the world is in Manila, (maybe I'm wrong) so I was not surprised to hear about all of the malls & American restaurants around you. Cebu is not quite as modernized, (thought it certainly doesn't look third-world) but there are parts that are extremely so. I laughed when you mentioned the geckos. There are geckos here, but there are also little lizards here called tuki's.There are all over & there have been many in every house I have stayed in. I like watching them. They just sit on the wall & wait for a bug to land by them & then they pounce! It's entertaining. They get their name from the sound they make. If you ever hear a lizard making a noise like that, it's a tuki. The larger ones are called tuko because they are bigger & have a deeper voice. Anyway, I am just excited to keep in touch & hopefully meet up these next few months!

   I arrived here in July right when the rainy season was starting. Well, hello summer! If you think it gets hot in St. George, come & experience the Philippines in the summer! This last week has been the hottest that I have had so far, no doubt. We walk from one appointment to another, & I feel almost dizzy & out of it because of how hot it is. It makes coming home at night to an air-con room that much better!

   We didn't have the chance to go back to Jenny yet; she's been out of town. We are going to try & go backtomorrow or some other time this week. We have found & taught some pretty interesting people though this week. My favorite thing to do is tract & find people! It's so interesting to get to know about people. Other than that, not much has happened this week. We have a training meeting tomorrow that I am excited for. Also, with so many new missionaries coming in, we are taking 2 zones from the Bacolod mission & adding them to our. This means that a lot of transfers & white-washing will take place. Also, with so many people leaving these next few transfers, most of the leadership positions are going to be filled with very young missionaries. It's kind of scary since President Schmutz is leaving in June. Our new mission Presidents name is Mcmurry (spelling?). They are from Idaho. Before President Schmutz & his wife were called here, they traveled quite a bit. They have been to India, South America, Europe, etc., so they kind of knew what to expect. I was talking to Elder Glines about it & he said that they were skyping President & his wife, & Sister Mcmurry asked if there were spiders in the Philippines...I hope they know what they are in for!

   I have a lot of pictures to send! I will try to figure out this dropbox thing so hopefully I can send them all to that. It's much faster & you can send many more at a time. I will do that right now while I still have some time. Love you all!

-Elder Staheli