Week 80: Tuesday December 16, 2014

Dear Family,

   As Christmas time approaches, my schedule and responsibilities only seem speed up! This past Monday we traveled to Dumagete for our annual Christmas conference. What a special time! It was so great to see so many missionaries gathered together in one building. I especially enjoyed speaking to previous companions and building new relationships with others as we discussed Christmas and participated in the mission talent show. We arrived back in Escalante yesterday after many hours of traveling. When we arrived back to our apartment, I dropped my bag and fell onto my bed. For the past 3 weeks me and Elder Villamater have not been able to hardly work at all in our area. We have had transfers, the storm, our meetings in Cebu, our trip to Dumagete...so much traveling! As exhausting as it has been, it has also been an adventure! Every second has been exciting and I have learned so much along the way.

   Okay, let's move on to the important stuff. We get to see each other next week! I'm so excited and I know that you all are too. I will give you an outline of what I am hoping is able to happen. Please keep in mind that because I am in an area that does not have much and is so far away, you may have to be patient and we may have to improvise a little bit. I am hoping that we will be able to do Google Hangout once again. We are hoping to go to a members home on Christmas day. She has agreed to let us use her I-pad so that the connection will hopefully be better and it will be more private. We will go over there tonight and I will take a look at it. I'm hoping that she has Google Chrome so that it will work. If I absolutely cannot get it to work, we may have to settle for a Skype call. I know that it is not ideal, but we will just have to see what happens. If this is the case, I am going to have to know all of your Skype names. I have not created a Skype, so if I need to I will create one the day of. I will do my best to call around 10:00 am on December 25(Philippines) which I believe will be 7:00 pm on December 24 in America. If there are any questions or concerns, please e-mail me today so that I can have a plan!

   That's about it for this week. Oh, by the way, I have conjunctivitis (pink eye). I've had it for about a week. It hurts, but is starting to go down. I'm hoping that it goes away by next week so that you can't make fun of me. Thank you all sooo much for the awesome letters and pictures! If anyone is on right now, feel free to write me so we can chat for a bit. I love you all!

Elder Staheli.

Week 79: Tuesday December 9, 2014

Dear Family,

   I am happy to say that I am alive and well! As I'm sure you can imagine, it's been a pretty crazy week. What made it even more hectic and difficult is that this week was transfer week! We received transfer calls and Monday and the missionaries were set to transfer to their new areas on Thursday. By Monday morning, of course there was already talk of the storm that was heading our way, but it was still pretty far out and transfers were set to continue on Thursday.

   As zone leaders in our area, we had the responsibility of arranging everyone's travel plans and driving the missionaries that were transferring both in and out, to and from the barge in San Carlos which is about and hour and a half away. As Wednesday afternoon rolled around, we were all wondering if transfers were going to be postponed due to the storm. We received instruction to go ahead and do all that we could to get the missionaries to their new areas as soon as possible. Early Wednesday morning at approximately 4:00 am, we set out for San Carlos hoping to catch the 7:00 am boat going across to Cebu. We pulled up at around 6:00 am only to find out that there were no boats going across despite the clear weather. At a loss, we headed to the apartment of the Senior couple living not too far from the dock. Our spirits were somewhat lifted as they made us pancakes, and even more so when we received a call that there was a smaller boat making a special trip across. We dropped our pancakes (hardest decision I made that day) and made it in time to get them on the boat to Cebu.

   To make a long story a little shorter, we spent the next 2 days traveling to and from San Carlos running errands, picking up missionaries, and taking them to their areas. We made that trip a total of 5 times (back and forth) in 48 hours. Needless to say, it was borderline exhausting.

   But that was only the first few days of the week!

   As the storm approached us, we received instruction that we were to stay in our apartments. Since our apartment is not dangerously close to the ocean, we moved a few of the Elders to our apartment for a few days. The next few days were not filled with much - cards, games, talk, and sleep. In all honesty, it was nice to have a few days to rest. As for the storm itself, it was nothing to say your final prayers over. The wind was strong, the rain not so much, but it made for a nice cool breeze coming in through the window. It was actually very comparable to the storm that we experienced last year. Now that it is all said and done, everyone is safe and the work can continue!

   We are actually headed to Cebu for the next few days for our meetings. I'm so excited! After that, we will be heading to Dumagete on Sunday for our Christmas conference. I'm excited for that as well, but not so excited about the 6 hour bus ride. travel. travel. travel.  It's tiring, but it's fun. It's been an exciting and memorable week. Thanks for the prayers and letters! I love you!

Elder Staheli.

Week 78: Tuesday December 2, 2014

Dear Family,

   Happy December! Christmas and a new year is just around the corner. It's transfer week and this week has already been so busy! Tomorrow is the official transfer day and it is so much different helping out with transfers when you are off-island. We are going to be heading to San Carlos which is about an hour and a half away, helping missionaries catch the right boats at the right times. Oh, I guess I should tell you what happened with transfers...I'm staying in Escalante with Elder Villamater! Neither of us are transferring. It's great because the zone has been in a slump for quite some time and it is finally doing so well! I'm really happy to be staying for another transfer!

   Thanksgiving sounded like a lot of fun! I'm jealous that you all went to a Jazz game without me. Nobody has given me any updates on them this year, but I get the familiar feeling that they aren't doing so well... Surprise, surprise.

   It sounds like there is another big storm heading this way. I'm not sure if people are just over-anxious because of the last storm or if it is really something to be worried about. I personally don't feel too worried about it, but we will be preparing I'm sure nonetheless. If it is true, I'm sure there will be many new opportunities to serve and teach people. As terrible as the disasters have been in the past, there were always people who's hearts were turned to the gospel. The Lord will do what He will to prepare and warn us in these latter-days.

   I hope that the storm doesn't take out the electricity or else we won't be able to speak on Christmas! I'm sure it will be fine. Only 3 weeks to go...I love you!

Elder Staheli.