Can't Wait for the Packages! Happy Birthday to me!! :)

Wow! I have been out of Canada for nearly 4 months... That's crazy. I feel like I ate at 5 Guys with all of you like 2 weeks ago. Time here really flies. It has been getting hotter everyday. Mornings give just enough respite to get ready for the day but past that I feel like I am constantly on fire.  I do have a fan in our apartment so that helps a bit. The worst thing about it is that it is supposed to get hotter everyday until mid April... Oh well, if the Filipinos can do it, I can too. Anyways, the good thing about the crazy heat is the crazy tropical fruit that they have here. I will miss the fruit here probably for the rest of my life!

So that investigator that I told you about texted us this week saying that he told his parents that he is going to get baptized, and they didn't take it very well. His family wants nothing to do with the missionaries now and Josef the investigator is going through a really tough time. He wants nothing more than to be baptized but he has to sneak out to go to church and have lessons with us. He has read through the entire Bible and really knows his stuff there. We gave him a quad and now he can't put it down. He loves the cross references and foot notes between the Bible and the Book of Mormon. He also is sneaking out to go to all the activities in the church. Elder Richards and I as well as a few other members here in Batangas had a fast earlier this week that Josef's family's hearts may be softened.

I can't wait for those packages you sent! One thing that you should try to keep in the back of your mind is a shipping company called LBC. They are a Filipino company that only ships to the Philippines but they do it for really cheap. I don't think they have any outlets in Canada but I know they have some in the US. I know there are like 2 or 3 in California and you can send boxes called balik bayan boxes that are huge for like $70. A few elders here get 25kg- 40kg boxes each month with just food, chocolate and stuff like that. Anyways just keep an eye out for LBCs haha.

Well, life here is good except I had a few issues with a really bad cold at the beginning of the week but I am almost over it. I love all of you a ton and the work here is still progressing :) ( I email that to my president every week haha)

Elder Nielson

Interesting! I hope this is not a bathroom! 

Adobo (a dish that Erik really likes to make and eat)! He made this! 

Erik's CTR ring. He does not know how this happened - it just shattered! Could it possibly be from repeatedly tossing it up and failing to catch it - letting it drop to the floor! Hmmmm! Maybe!

 

Just having a good time with a bunch of pretty funny people! :)