The Philippines are calling and I must go... : Week 6 - September 13, 2018 (MTC, Manila, Philippines)

With Elder Powell - Provo MTC

On the bus from Provo MTC to SLC Airport

On the airplane from SLC to LA

Hello-po dear family and friend, from the Philippines! We flew in last night (which I guess is what it is right now in the USA) and it has been a crazy trip. Unfortunately, I do not have a ton of time to write, so I'll try to make do with what I have. We left the MTC in Provo Monday morning, after a wonderful Sunday of departure devotionals and messages and farewells, and flew out to LA where we were supposed to have a layover but because there's currently a hurricane in the Philippines they had to cancel/super delay the flight, so we stayed the night in a hotel in LA instead. That was all pretty crazy and last minute, but it is nothing short of a miracle that it all worked out alright, and I'm not even at the next day. Anyways, Tuesday morning we got up super early and went back to the airport, got checked in and everything, had one last meal in the US, and were off around 12. From there, we had a nice 15 hour flight over to Manila, and I didn't really sleep at all but I was able to study and read a lot, and talk a bit to a Filipino lady I was sitting next to. I tried with some Tagalog, but in the end we both pretty much just ended up speaking English, but that was nice. We got in around 6:30 PM on Wednesday night, in the Philippines, so like 2:30 AM back in California. Then we got on a bus where the Manila MTC president was waiting to greet us and we all drove down to the MTC, where we arrived around 9 or so and had some food and went to bed around 10:30. So it's been an interesting week so far. The MTC here is amazing so far, though, I'm loving the climate, it reminds me of Hawaii. Maybe it will get hotter, but I'm good with it right now. We had some crazy fruit already last night, it's called rambutan, it was really good but looked super weird. I've got a new companion, Elder Etcheverry, from Auburn, Washington, who was in the district next to ours back in Provo. And later today we get to go to the temple right across the street, so that will be a cool experience. Other than all of that, the schedule here is going to be pretty full, by the looks of it. We are here for a little less than a week, we all leave next Wednesday morning, and from there on to Laoag. Manila is pretty crazy though, this city is absolutely enormous and super smoggy, it's just really cool to be in a different country and think, well, this is home for the next two years. Anyway, sorry I don't have much by way of spiritual messages today, I'm just excited and a little nervous to be here, I know that this is the place for which I have been called of God. Oh, and actually on the plane I read a talk by Elder Christofferson, I can't remember the name exactly but something about living a consecrated life, which was really good and I learned a lot from as to how we need to devote our efforts and life to building up God's kingdom here on the Earth, and it was very informative as to the ways to do so. He listed five categories: purity, work, caring for your body, service, and integrity. Anyway, it was just a great talk which kind of explained ways to become a better disciple of Jesus Christ, which I am striving for every day. I'm also reading Jesus the Christ now, which is really good, I got through a lot during the flight. Other than that, I have no other news, besides that I'm excited to see what this next week and then the next two years will bring. I pray that I will be humble enough and diligent to become adequately prepared for my entry to the field, this will be a wonderful week. I love you all so much, have a great week, I'll see you later!

Love,