Family,
You'll be pleased to know that I am currently uploading LOTS of pictures to dropbox. Go check them out in a little bit. The theme is "Children of the Philippines". Just by looking at the pictures, I hope you can see, even if only a little bit, why I love this land so much.
Well, this has been one of the first times that I have had a chance to sit down & relax since the last e-mail I sent, & I am planning on taking a nice long nap later today. Guihulngan is so great! It is such a beautiful place. Our area is pretty similar to my last few areas. There's a big market in the center of the town & as you go further out, it becomes much less populated.
Yesterday we worked up in the mountains where the poor people live. It was such a cool experience. As we were walking around up there, we saw these two men building a house out of wood & bamboo, because they have no place to live. While they were working on the house, the wife was sitting in the dirt beside them, holding their new born baby. I offered to help & as always, they were resistant. It's not that they don't like us, Filipino's are just extremely shy people & do not want to put labor on others. They were resistant out of humility, not pride. Regardless, I grabbed a hammer & helped build there house. It's maybe 5 feet by 5 feet. I don't know how hard it is for you all to picture something like this, I know that I had this idea back home that nobody anywhere in the world still lived like this, but these are things that I see everyday of my mission that build my humility & love for these people. By the time we finished, I could see the gratitude in their eyes & they asked me where our chapel was. They want to come to church. I hope they do, but they live pretty far away & since they have no money to travel there, the chances are slim.
We also went & visited a less-active family
yesterday who also lives up in the mountains. When we arrives, the mother was busy cooking, cleaning, & being a mom while her 5 daughters were all running around their small home. We came in, took out a hymn book, & me & Elder Mozar taught them "I Am a Child of God". I sent a picture & video. I had the impression to teach them about Jesus Christ & Heavenly Father - the very basics - even to the mother. I explained that we are all children of God & that He loves us all. By the end of the lesson, the mother was about in tears. As we walked away, I could hear the kids singing in the background. Through my sweaty, sun torched body, I got chills.
Sounds like there is a lot going on back home. Happy birthday to grandma & Josie! Chad, I'm sure you're excited to be graduating. Daxton is almost 1 & I've been out for almost a year. I didn't even think about it until Starr said something last week, but we get to talk to each other again next month! It feels like we just talked to other day. I'm glad everyone is busy, especially myself. If everyone is busy, it seems to make the time seem to go by faster. If I have more going on, I don't think about home as much & my mission is so much more enjoyable. I love being a district leader! Teaching a workshop at district meeting was such a fun experience. I'm still not sure what I want to do when I get home, but I may consider going into education? I think teaching would be enjoyable & I would be able to help & influence young people in such a positive way. If I were to teach, I would want to teach high school. I also think that it would be fun to coach a sport as well. It's just a thought that has ran through my head this past week.
Thanks for the pictures & videos! It's so enjoyable to see & hear you guys. I love you all & miss you very much. Go check out out my pictures later, I'm still uploading some. Talk to you next week!
-Elder Staheli
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