Week #41

July 27, 2015

Hello!! 

Well this letter isn't going to be very good! This week has been hard and the work didn't go very well for us. But we did have success because we endured!! haha Ether 12:6

So first of all this past week was a little crazy! To start off with we went hiking with some youth from the branch and some investigators so that was super fun!! We went hiking up in the hills around my area and it was so amazing up there. Then Tuesday came around. District meeting. And guess who showed up at my district meeting! President Maurer and the assistants... But luckily it wasn't for a bad reason! The assistants gave the training and President Maurer was doing his quarterly interviews! So nothing bad there thankfully!! 

Our work,despite how little was accomplished, was good. We got around to everyone in our teaching pool thankfully and all the lessons were amazing! And the turnout yesterday at church was awesome! We had 11 investigators at church and they all had a great time!! This coming Saturday our investigator is being interviewed for baptism!!! Yay!!

Being a district leader is still very unenjoyable (not sure if that's a word). Preparing trainings is the worst! You gotta think about what's best for the district and what they need to hear. But by far collecting key indicators every week is the worst. Yesterday I had to collect actuals for the month so that was a mess. But I'm surviving so that's good.

Well that's it for the week! Thank you for all you do!

Elder Child

Notes: I didn't know what he meant by "collecting key indicators and actuals" - basically it's collecting data: how many lessons were taught, it measures your success for the week.  He said that the missionaries in his district probably get the highest numbers in the mission, which shows how hard they work.

Pics 1-2 - Brett said that these arm wrestling matches usually end in a stalemate, but this time he won.

Pic 3 - this is the father to Brett's favorite family in Gandara

Pic 4 - the fire alarm in their apartment wouldn't stop beeping one night so Brett put it in a bucket of water.  I suggested that he get another one and he responded with "nah, the risk of having a fire in the Philippines is so low.  The air here is an active fire station for everyone."

Pic 5 - Here is Brett on the hike he mentioned in the letter.  I asked why the two investigators were carrying machetes and he was carrying his flip flops.  He says the machetes are for clearing a pathway to hike and for killing cobras.  And he said it was easier to hike barefoot.  I asked if people get bit by cobras often there and he said that usually the kids will trap them and stone them but he hasn't heard of people getting bit.

Pic 6 - Lunch he bought from a street vendor.  He says it's delicious.