Week 89-ish: All This Was Done in Cauayan

Hey folks, I bet you didn't think you'd be getting another one of these, seeing as I'm not a full-time missionary anymore, but I personally like closure and had some musings I'd like to get off my chest, so I guess I'll use this little platform I've got to do that in front of all y'all.

For those of you who don't pay attention to my life outside of these weekly emails, I'll give you a quick update: due to civil unrest caused by the coronavirus pandemic, my mission to the Philippines Cauayan Mission that was supposed to be 24 months long was cut short just before 21 months. I and countless other missionaries assigned in foreign countries have been sent home, some of whom will be reassigned to missions in their home countries, but that seems pretty darn unlikely for me, just based on how close I was to going home anyway.

It started on Monday night, when we got word that we'd be under house-arrest until further notice. I was armed with my Old Testament, a bootleg copy of Monopoly, and a winning attitude to get me through what I thought was going to be the most boring time of my life. I thought wrong.

We got halfway through our first game of monopoly when the big guys called and told us all to pack up in case we had to "mobilize." They claimed to was more for precaution than anything, but it hurt really bad to get that call. The Philippines had become my home over the past 21 months, and I felt like I was being kicked out. Those feelings only intensified a few hours later when they told us that all missionaries from foreign countries were being sent home. I sat in disbelief and tried to get some sleep later that night, but that was hard mostly because I was waiting to get the call that we needed to leave, but in a more real way it was because I was ridiculously congested and had a nice little cough, which had turned into me sounding like I had smoked 2 packs a day for both decades of my existence. It was bad, but I didn't have a fever, which was nice.

Wednesday morning rolls around and they told us to "mobilize" and get to Cauayan so that we could get on busses heading to Manila to get on a plane and go home. What could go wrong? Not a whole lot, it just took longer than expected and was very boooooring.

That's a picture of the roommates and I as we waited for a very nice member to pick us up and take us to a stake center to meet up with more missionaries in the area who were all going to Cauayan.

That's a picture of (mostly) all the foreign missionaries from Cauayan mission all chillin' in the Manila MTC, waiting for ANYTHING to happen. It was a boring few days waiting for the flights out of Manila to get all finalized, although, they eventually did, and on Sunday, I flew home, and Monday morning I was greeted with this sight for sore eyes:

So that pretty much catches you up to my current situation. I'm back in the great state of Massachusetts, out of the Philippines for the foreseeable future, and it's very bittersweet. Anyone who's come home from a mission can testify to the joy of seeing your family again, and being home, but it does feel like I left a bit of myself in the Philippines. In the Manila MTC, while we were waiting to go home, we had a bit of an impromptu testimony meeting about the Book of Mormon, and for some reason Mosiah 18:30 just popped into my head and wouldn't get out:

30 And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.

I thought about that verse in my head and felt like I should stand up and share it, but I had no idea why. It's a fine verse, but how is this gonna help a bunch of missionaries who are getting sent home? I stood up, shared the verse, and then repeated it, with some minor adjustments:

30 And now it came to pass that all this was done in [Cauayan], yea, by the [SM* of Cauayan], in the [Mission Home] that was near the [SM of Cauayan]; yea, the place of [Cauayan], the [SM of Cauayan], the [Mission Home of Cauayan], how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.

This might seem pretty dumb to those of you reading this, but I mean this with my whole heart. I testify to all of you that in Cauayan I came to a greater knowledge of my Redeemer. I had the opportunity to help others come to the same knowledge of our perfect Saviour. For this reason the Cauayan Mission is beautiful to my eyes. I don't know any other way to describe it. I feel blessed for this time that I've had to serve Jesus Christ in that way. I miss it so much. I've seen God's power as he's changed me and those around me through his Son. Now that I'm home and that period of my life is over, I still feel the obligation to "sing his praise forever." I love the Philippines, I love the Cauayan mission, and I miss them terribly, but they're in the hands of the Lord of the Harvest. The mission has done a weird thing to me in that now I associate the strong spiritual feelings of "[coming] to the knowledge of [the] Redeemer," and "[Singing] his praise forever," with a geographic location. when I read about the Waters of Mormon, or the Land of Ishmael where King Lamoni lived and was converted, when I imagine the great city of Zarahemla where Alma the Younger spoke, or Jerusalem where Christ himself ministered, I'll remember my time in the Philippines Cauayan Mission, when those stories became a part of me, because in some small way, I got to see them play out before my eyes over the course of these 21 months.

Love,
Elder Menzie

*SM is a chain of malls in the Philippines and there's one right next to the mission home in Cauayan

Thomas is Coming Home

Dear Friends and Family,*

Months ago we were Skyping with Thomas from his mission in the Philippines. He said, "I had the weirdest dream. I was home! I thought how strange it was to be home because I wasn't done with my mission yet. It was too early."

Tuesday morning we were woken up by a call from Thomas saying he was coming home. The President of the Philippines gave a 72 hour window of time for foreigners to leave the Philippines before airports locked down in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19. This time limit has been softened due to the incredible logistical hurdles needed to overcome to get thousands of foreigners home quickly and safely. We acknowledge the sleepless, tireless efforts of so many to make this happen. While we are thrilled to have Thomas home, it will not be the usual missionary homecoming. We will welcome him at the airport, but there will be no party; no gathering of friends and family to celebrate his service. Add to that, this turn of events has been incredibly abrupt and jarring. There were no good-bye visits to those Thomas has served and grown to love. No doubt after serving for 20 months, a chunk of his heart will be in the Philippines. We will do our best to shower him with love and support as we welcome him home (no travel details yet). He will have a 2 week quarantine when he arrives in MA.

I'm sending this email to invite you who have followed Thomas' mission to help us welcome him home. We will be posting notes, pictures, cards, etc on the walls of our home so Thomas can be constantly reminded that he is loved and supported and welcomed home.

Our snail mail address:

32 Hapgood Way

Shrewsbury, MA 01545

Thank you for loving our Thomas. We will follow up with more details on his homecoming in the next few days.

Much Love,

The Menzies

Rebecca, Wayne, Christina, Thomas, Grace, Caroline and Wesley

*email sent out to everyone on Thomas' mission email list

Welcome Home, Elder Menzie!

❤ Happiness looks like FAMILY ❤

Week 88: That's great it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes and airplanes (and the coronavirus)

So this has been a very stressful week, as I'm sure it has been for all of you. But look at this, we were given YELLOW watermelon as a snack and it was verrrrrrry good.

Look at that, doesn't that look like all watermelons should be yellow? and it tastes better too! It's sweeter and I felt more cultured while I ate it. I can't explain why, but I did.

We had Zone Conference this week, which was super fun for several reasons, mostly because of the food, but also because of the friends, and also because nobody had quite lost their minds yet. I took a nice picture with some of my friends so that my mom knows I have friends:

Are you convinced mom? If you're wondering what that thing is we're doing with our hands, it means "peace be with you" or something.

So Zone conference was Thursday, and Friday morning they told us to drop everything and go buy 2 weeks worth of groceries because of the coronavirus. It was a pretty crazy day. Church is cancelled until further notice, which is difficult because that's kinda a big part of missionary work. We were freaking out, trying to figure out what was going on, and we ended up deciding to go eat.

this is a picture of me raising my glass of root beer to the end of the world

I'm just kidding ... mostly. The world probably isn't gonna end anytime soon, but it was a very challenging few days coming to grips with everything.  My mind kept going back to the first verse of Be Still My Soul, which is one of my favorite hymns.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend

Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

I was impressed by the message of optimism in this song, that no matter what change or trial in our life, God will always be there on our side.

Be safe, wash your hands, and drink water. This has been a Health advisory from Elder Thomas Menzie

Love,

Elder Menzie

Week 87: Wow, Tuguegarao!

Howdy boys and girls, ladies and germs. This is Elder Menzie, here to tell you about all the good stuff that's happened this week. It's been a hot week, even for Philippines standards. I don't know where this week ranks in all the weeks in terms of temperature in the Philippines, but I was sweating. Such is life in Tuguegarao, and it's the best.

This is us, meaning, our apartment of missionaries. there's 4 of us in the ward, and we're all collectively roasting like a rotisserie chicken. so we went out to a restaurant that makes filipino barbeque chicken called Mang Inasal. Inasal is the Ilonggo word for barbeque, and One of my companions tried to explain the meaning of "mang" to me one time, but he couldn't really do it. It had something to do with the chicken being masculine I think, but I'm also positive that's not what it means because why would it. I've met very feminine chicken.

I guess the city got word that it was really hot this week, so in accordance with that, they shut off the power to half our area for a day, so even when we went to 7-11 to escape the heat, there was never a true escape.

You can see us here drinking juice, which probably has some vitamin c or something, which I hope will help against the pandemic that is ripping through the rest of Asia, but being a bro and leaving the Philippines alone for the most part. Thank you for that, coronavirus. that being said though, we are not allowed to shake hands, fist bump, or whatever for the time being. they did not, however, ban typing using the keyboards at these netshops which are probably cultivating the next super-disease.

that was pretty much it for the week. I'll try to take more pictures next week, but I had a nice little cold this week, and I was trying to remember to not hi-five all the little children.

Come, Follow Me this week was about Nephi and his last testimony. I love how simply and humbly Nephi declares what he knows to be true. I love his trust in the Lord and all the goodness contained in these last chapters of 2 Nephi.

3 But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry.

4 And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.

Love,
Elder Menzie

Week 86: Batter Up, Swing it in!

It's been a great week. I don't have any qualifiers for that, it was just a really happy week for me this week.

I got transferred this week! I said goodbye to Santiago and all my friends there to make the triumphal return of Elder Menzie to his favorite city in the Philippines: Tuguegarao.

Alright, I will give one clarifier, it was kinda bittersweet to leave Santiago, I have a lot of good memories there, especially with the dope missionaries I met. I got to see so many missionaries learn and grow in Santiago, which is pretty sad to leave behind, but they're grown ups, and they're in pretty darn good hands. here's a picture of our last District Council before transfers:

I was very excited when I got word that I was transferring to Tugue, but one thing I forgot was just how far away it is from everything else. That bus ride was not fun. The committed readers of this series of disjointed emails will know that Elder Menzie travels in style:

I'm going to be honest, as I'm sure you've come to expect, and tell it like it is. A lot of people don't really like Tuguegararo! I don't understand it either, but it's the truth. Maybe it's because it's ridiculously hot, maybe it's because it's kinda stinky, but I'm going to be honest, I love this city. Maybe it's because I finally found a city that's harder to pronounce than Worcester, or maybe I just really like cities with hard to pronounce names, maybe it's because the letter "T" is my favorite letter of the alphabet, or maybe it's because of Gosi Ward:

So since I've left, my second area, Gosi, which is in Tugue as well, became a sisters area. they had a baptism this weekend, and were going to have Elder Pino, who was my companion in Gosi, do the baptism. But here's the thing: he transferred. So they collectively said, hey let's have Elder Menzie do it, to which I said YES! it was soooooo cool to see the ward again and talk with all of my friends and see how they're doing. When I walked up to the chapel, the bishop greeted me and said "Elder Adobo" I am Elder Adobo. I will wear that as a badge of pride wherever I go for the rest of my life.

I love this city and these people, and I'm so happy to be back, even if they all told me I got fat.

Love,
Elder Menzie

Tagalog right where it hurts:
Elder! Tumaba ka na. -- Elder! you got fat.

Week 85: Thank you, Thank you And Babait Ninyo

It's hard to believe that it's been 6 weeks already, and transfers are this Wednesday. It's pretty funny that that's how I measure time now, but such is life. I'm in the zone now. living 6 weeks at a time. I die and get reborn every month and a half. rejuvenation, reincarnation ... a new area? maybe. who's to say. If you didn't understand those last few sentences, don't worry, it's not you, it's me.

This week was a good 'ole week on the grind. I'm just grinding. And y'know what? I'm having a grand time.

This week The Antolin family called us and asked us to come over and pray with them, because it was the anniversary of a death they had in the family, so we went and prayed with them, and I mostly wanted to share this story because they're very nice, and we got a nice picture that I thought you would like some context for:

Aren't they just the cutest? I was very happy yesterday when both of Wenalyn's parents came with her to church yesterday. They're such a cool family, and I'm glad I could be here to see them make a change in their lives.

A couple weeks ago we started teaching another cool family called the Rodico family. It was funny, because one sunday, brother Velasco, a member, came up to us and asked us if we were teaching Ferdinand, the father of the Rodico Family, who was sitting right next to Brother Velasco in Sacrament meeting. We weren't, but we did, and we still are, and we've even got his kids coming now! They're a really nice family as well, and they are so happy to start living the gospel.

I realized today that I didn't have very many good pictures to send, and I don't have any funny tinder analogies to make, so while we were at lunch, I took a picture, for your viewing pleasure:

That's Me, Elder Pampliega, Elder Debry, and Elder Raine.

You should know Elder Pamps by now, because he's been my companion for a whole cycle. I never spell his name right cuz it's too long, but he's a very good boi. Elder Debry was in a picture I sent a couple weeks back. I called him a sweetheart, and that it still true. he also kinda looks like Boog from the film Open Season. Elder Raine is a deep cut that only the TRUE FANS of the weekly email would recognise. He was my roommate in the MTC, and it was good to see his face again.

That's pretty much it, this week has been kinda uneventful, but I PROMISE more stuff MIGHT happen next week.

Love,
Elder Menzie

tag-a-log:
wala kaming ibang ginagawa -- we don't have anything else we're doing (our when people try and tell us they don't want us to worry about their problems)

Week 84: ❤️ ~Love from the Philippines~ ❤️

Hey folks, Valentine's Day was this week, so I guess you could say 💖love💖 is in the air ... or something like that. I wouldn't really know, because I'm a good missionary and I mostly just love Jesus, and all the people, but in a charity-pure-love-of-Christ sorta way and not in the "I'm gonna send you thirty sparkly heart emojis and see if you're still awake even though it's sleeping time" sorta way.

Those who pay REALLY good attention to these emails will remember that around Christmastime I think, I said that Christ is the Bridegroom, and talked about his love for us. I was just thinking about it, and I guess that makes us missionaries sorta like a dating service. We're pretty much like Tinder but for Jesus. We go to random people, give them a quick overview of what we/ he has to offer, and they, metaphorically, swipe left or right. I'm going to be honest, I've been out of society to long to remember if right or left was the "I think you're cute" one, but they swipe, and decide if they want to hear more about what we have to say. We might text them a little bit, and set up a meeting, for them to se what they're actually getting themselves into. The main difference between us and Tinder is that  we're offering "peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come." (D&C 59:23)

Christ loves us with a love we couldn't fathom, and he wants us to receive the blessings he's prepared for us, but we need to enter into a covenant relationship with him and be faithful to our promises if we want any of them. Christ loves us so much he suffered enough to "tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that [he] might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink" (D&C 19:18) He knows that we've sinned, and he knows the consequences for sin -- death. So he, in perfect obedience to his Father, paid the price, and told us that if we follow him, we won't have to suffer like he did.

I testify to that love, but at the same time, it can be really hard for us to be satisfied with our imperfect growth in this life, and it can be VERY hard to trust in the Lord's promise that "he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more." Nephi, the great prophet from the Book of Mormon, struggled with this idea of not being enough, just like many of us do:

"17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.

18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.

19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted." (2 Nephi 2)

We shared this principle of guilt and repentance with someone we're teaching yesterday who has been struggling with guilt and forgiveness, which has led to feelings of unworthiness. We explained that Christ suffered for our sins, and he doesn't want us to suffer like that, and though repentance, and trust in the Lord, we can be forgiven and clean. That's true love. That's love that can change us, and the whole world, if we let it.

Here's a pic of Elder Pamp and I celebrating Valentine's Day. He had a toothache, and this is how we decided to treat it for 15 pesos:

Here's a pic of the ladykillers at District Council, getting ready for Valentine's Day:

Tagalog with Intent:

mahal kita 😍 -- I love you 😍

Love,

Elder Menzie

Week 83: Menzie's Santiago Spinners

So, I guess the reports that coronavirus is in northern Luzon was a hoax, which means I don't have to wear a facemask, but I'm not gonna ditch my little spray bottle of alcohol, I shake to many hands in a day, and hi-five way to many little kids to ditch my scented rubbing alcohol.

This week was a TRAVEL WEEK! And by that, I mean we weren't in our area for a decent chunk of this week, but that's okay, because Elder Pamps and I travel in style:

We went into cauayan this week for splits and meetings. Splits were pretty fun. I was with Elder Burleson, who was actually in the MTC with me. He's great. While we were teaching, we met someone named Rebika, to whom I said, that's basically my Mom's name, let's take a picture.

They're pretty great. The next day, we had meetings, and I saw Elder Pino (my Son) and Elder Debry (who is a sweetheart).

The meetings were great, but it was really nice to get back to Santiago on Thursday night. I don't know if I've just been here too long, but I just felt antsy in Cauayan.

Earlier today I had a spiritual experience. Here is a picture of that experience:

That's right folks, we had a nice good 'ole fashioned game of ultimate. I'm gonna be honest, when I say a spiritual experience, I might be referring to the spirit of contention, because things got kinda heated. I'm just kidding, but we did take this disc throwing very seriously. I scraped my knee, and tried to whip these novices into shape. My current name for the group is the Santiago Spinners, but I'm very open to suggestions.

We had a baptism this week! Wenalyn (the girl standing next to me in the picture below) got baptized this week.

We've been teaching her family for a while now, but Wenalyn just had such a strong desire to get baptized that she ended up getting baptized before the rest of them. They're really humble and really want to follow Christ. It was super cool when Wenalyn gave her testimony, because she was up there for like 15 minutes! I was happy for her, but if I'm being honest I was more confused, because she's pretty darn shy, so I asked her about it after, and she was like, "Sorry Elder!" and I was like, "Don't worry about it, it was good" and she was like, "I just got a REALLY good feeling while I was talking up there, and I didn't want it to go away"

I'm grateful that I get to be here and facilitate people having spiritual experiences, in some small way.

Love,
Elder Menzie

Tagalog with a Smile:
siemps! -- of course! (abbreviated from siempre)

MLC pics

Week 82: An Exercise in Proper Hygiene

I'm sure that you wouldn't be surprised to hear that all the hullabaloo about the coronavirus has made it to the Philippines, and I'm going to be honest, I was pretty darn confused when I heard that there was a virus caused by drinking cheap beer. I'm sure I'm the first one to make that funny joke, but you can trust that I'm not a joke thief because I am in the Philippines, and I don't think they even sell corona here, much less make funny current events jokes using it.

But we're feeling the coronavirus scare here, so for Zone Conference this week we rolled up in style:

 That's right, ain't no coronavirus gettin to Elder Menzie! Not with that nifty little face mask. I even got a shoutout from the mission nurse for my excellent personal hygiene. That's for you mom! I even wash behind my ears now! I've got a little rubbing alcohol spritzer for my hands too! I After my brush with sickness last week, I'm not interested in getting sick again anytime soon.

Here's us being proactive in prevention with somebody we're teaching:

Don't we all look so healthy! No coronavirus in that lesson, I tell you what.

For those wondering, I'm still eating the food like normal, so maybe my puking didn't actually teach me anything. It's okay though, because the food is very good here. especially when members are the ones feeding you:

For those worried about my health in this picture, don't worry! I simply removed the mask to eat. rest assured I promptly replaced it when the meal was over.

In all seriousness though, I want to yell like Ammon did:
"Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land." (Alma 26:36)

Even when I get sick, and even when it's still really weird to be in the Philippines (which definitely qualifies as "a strange land") The Lord has been mindful of me, and that's what keeps me going, from day to day, even when I throw up sometimes.

Love,
Elder Menzie

Pics from Santiago Zone Con

81: Food so Good it Makes you Wanna Vomit

So, I realize that in these emails, I've spent a decent amount of time almost bragging about the weird foods I've been eating here in the Philippines. I've had hard-boiled egg with the embryo inside, I've had chicken head, chicken feet, basically any cut of chicken the butcher just throws away in America. I'm not gonna lie, I was getting a little too big for my britches. I haven't really gotten that sick ever on my mission, besides a few cases of pretty serious loose bowel movement. I had some sort of steel lined stomach, or so I thought ...

Thursday morning, I got up and decided I would try using this ab-roller doohickey we've got laying around the apartment.

Mistake.

I tried to do three "rolls," but if we're being honest, not one of them counted for anything. And to make matters worse, my nice belly I've been cultivating for a year and a half was sore for the rest of the day. I didn't think too much about it and just went to work (and eat) as normal. I didn't even eat anything that weird, just some chicken adobo for lunch, and then a recent convert gave us soup as a snack. it was pretty good, but I was feeling REALLY full. Elder Pamp- pamp and I were just walking down the road with our fellowshippers,  and Pamp turns to me and says, "Elder, are you feeling okay?" I responded by vomiting.

I got gatorade, which came right back up, so I said "Ok, be that way," and sipped some water and slept.

I blame the ab roller.

Besides that, this week was pretty good! It was my Mom's birthday this week, so anyone who forgot, here's your late reminder to say happy birthday. When I called home on her birthday, she said that her birthday wish was for me to take a picture of us at dinner with members later that day. In honor of said wish, here is said picture:

Happy birthday, mom.

Here is a picture of Elder Pamp and I on Thursday, before the vomiting:

The Philippines is pretty, and I feel kinda bad for throwing up on it. Elder Pampliwhoosit is a trooper and I'm lucky to have him.

Love,
-Elder Menzie

Tagalog, in a word:
nagsuka ako dalawang beses noon Huwebes -- I threw up twice on thursday

Week 80: Keep Fishin'

This week was Transfers! Companionship ended with Elder Walker. Now Elder Pampliega is my companion. That's kinda a mouthful though, so you can just call him Elder Pamp-Pamp for short. He's great. He's from Bacolod, which is a place in the Philippines that most of you have never heard of. Here's a picture of us at dinner:

We went back to Sinili this sunday, except this time we visited the Gregorio Family's farm, or, as the natives call it, bukid. They've got a fish pond on their bukid, so naturally, we tried to catch some:

Look at that posture! The poise! Wait. It looks like there's something on the line! lets see if I got anything!

WOW! look at the size of him! It's a good thing I was strong enough to pull him out of the water.

We caught a few more fish, and then we had a boodle fight, which is where you put your food on banana leaves and it's just a free for all. It was pretty darn good.

I'm grateful for the opportunities I have to meet these people, and enjoy their culture while trying to help them find the way to lasting happiness. Jesus Christ is the way. I love being able to see people change their lives through his grace.

Love,
Elder Menzie

Week 79.5: Pictureshow extravaganza Part 2!!! "One of the Biggest Dams in Southeast Asia"

So, earlier today we had a district activity at this place called Magat Dam.

The dam itself was kind of lame, but the district activity was fun

We played this game called kill, which sounds morbid, but it was really fun. the way it works is you've got to pass the ball around the circle, and someone has to kick or headbutt the ball 3 times before anyone can catch it, at which point they can throw it at anyone. Like this:

I got killed in the butt :(

Part 2 was pretty short, but I figured my mom would like more pictures.

Love,

Elder Menzie

Week 79: Pictureshow extravaganza!!! The Many Travels of Elder Menzie

Hey folks, a lot has happened this week, so I've got a reasonable amount of pictures for you. Try and keep up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride...

I went on splits in cabarroguis again this week! I was with Elder Adams again, and it was a really fun day. Here's a picture:

Here's a picture of one of my favorite views in this area:

That's a barangay called Sinili. I like it quite a bit because it's out in the barrio, which is the Tagalog word for waaaaaaaaayy out in the flippin boonies. I like the rice fields, the mountains out in the background, and that carabao is like the cherry on top.

That's not the only reason I like Sinili though. If you remember my emails like an elephant, you'd remember in October when Daisy Gregorio got baptized. She's great, and from Sinili. We've been teaching her family for a little bit, and they're the reason Sinili is my favorite.

The whole family is so cool. Nanay and Tatay (Mom and Dad) Gregorio are the best. It's been so cool to see them grow in humility and faith, as well as seeing that manifest in their obedience to commitments we give and the commandments of God. Nanay has pretty much become my grandma in this area. She told Daisy (who told us) that Nanay basically said that we're a couple americans in the philippines. We're visitors in a country far away from our families, and that's hard, so she's made it her responsibility to take care of us. This means she feeds us a lot. I love these people soooooooooooooooo much.

We had 2 baptisms this week:

Clarissa and Westley got baptized this week, which is something else that made me very happy. Clarissa is 22 and a college student here in Santiago. We're technically the ones who taught her and did the paperwork for the mission office and everything, but honestly, she's got a really good friend who referred her to us, and he's done most of the work.

Westley is 11, 355 days younger than my brother, Wesley, and just about as tall as Clarissa. He's been feeding me memes while his family has been feeding me fried grasshoppers, and he is great.

That's all the pictures that can fit in one email ... what can be done?

TO BE CONTINUED . . . .