Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, Elder Froude 2, and all who are
excited for the Christmas season,
Well, it seems that my mission will soon be coming to a
close; my adventures and all of the many great people I’ve come to meet, I will
soon, regrettably, be leaving behind. It was definitely a most wonderful
experience, beyond what I could have ever imagined. I could not have hand
picked a better mission for me to be in, or how things could have turned out.
For in all that I did and in all that I had accomplished, the Lord was there
and His hand was guiding the events around me to work out not in my favor but
in His favor. So in the end, everything turned out all right; no matter how
much I struggled or worked hard, or thought I was all alone, I have only come
to realize that He was there with me the whole time. Thanks be to my Savior who
had helped me in some of the most difficult times of my life. Thanks be to the
Philippines for being the perfect place to make this boy into a man. Thanks be to
all of you who have supported me throughout my mission and have sent letters,
gifts, advice, or even a short email; your support and your love have really
helped me and inspired me to work harder.
Though the time is far spent and little remains, I have
no time to relax yet, no time to falter for there are many more things that are
required of me in the next couple of days in preparation for Christmas Conference,
Mission Leadership Council, and of course, transfer and exit day. But before
that, I would like to let you know a little bit about my week.
I've been quite
blessed this week with many great opportunities to serve and even a hot shower!
^_^ We had our Zone Conference and Christmas Conference in Mindoro and we
stayed there for 2 days. President was kind enough to book us a room at a hotel
where we enjoyed much great food, nice beds, air conditioning, and a hot shower!
^_^ It was a nice break and we were able
to catch up on sleep in preparation for the conferences. It was a great
experience! The skits were good, the songs were great, and we were able to
unwind and just enjoy being in Mindoro. We even worked for a full day over
there and we had many great experiences, a few referrals, new investigators;
the work is doing so well over there. Even President Gabriel, the branch
president of San Jose, is looking really well. Actually, one sister I met in
Mindoro, Remy Del Rosario, who used to work with us missionaries all the time
back when I was assigned there, came with us on the plane back to go to the
MTC. She is serving a mission! Congrats to her!
Of course, all of these great things that have happened didn’t
last long. Yesterday, we just received
into our mission 11 more elders. They are all pa-uwi (returning home) missionaries but
since their exit visas have not gotten back to them from Immigration, they have
to stay in the Philippines for another week. I sincerely hope that does not
happen to me! This also happened last transfer except it was only for 24 hours.
So, everyone in my batch going home is getting restless and anxious about what
might happen in the next few days. We might be delayed or something like that.
I really hope not; it would be so hard to book another flight out of the
country around Christmas time. It's all done by immigration in Makati. Their
director got sacked so everything is so much slower now cause the new guy
doesn't know what’s going on. I've done all that I can from here to try to get
those visas in on time; I’ve sent emails, texts, I’ve talked to president about
it. I went personally to our travel department to follow up on it. So, I've
been doing all I can from here, trust me. According to President Revillo, even the area
presidency are doing all they can to get these visas on time now. All hands on
deck daw. Imagine how many angry parents have called them about this, so we're
hoping that will speed up the process a bit.
Wow, I really don't feel like I’ll be going home in about
a week. It's crazy to think about really. I'm actually going to go and visit my
previous areas and say some goodbyes today so that might help me feel it more.
I'm really excited to go home but I’m also going to miss the Philippines and
being a full-time missionary.
Till next week!!! Thanks for being online today! I've got
to go visit my old areas now! Just one more email session and I'll see you in Cali!
Alright, I love you all! Have a good night!!!!
Doing you Proud,
Elder Froude ^_^
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| On the way to Mindoro with Elder Pedrola and Pres. Revillo |
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| Nice view! |
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| Touchdown! |
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| Good to see the old familiar area. |
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| Remember Elder Rakuro, my batch? |
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| Zone Conference in Mindoro |
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| The hotel we stayed in called The White House. Haha! |
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| Ahhhhh!!! Nice bed!!!! |
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| With Sis. Remy Del Rosario...MTC bound! |
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| Back to Quezon City |
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