Cauayan Philippines' Mission : Week of December 21, 2015 (Christmas Week)

Dear family and friends,

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes! Although having my birthday here was a little different than it would have been at home, it was great nonetheless. It just so happened that on my birthday, the ward had their ward Christmas party. Much to my dismay, the fact that it was my birthday was announced to everybody in the room at the party, and before I knew it, I had a couple hundred people singing me a Filipino version of the happy birthday song! The members at the party made sure that I ate a lot of food as well, and it all tasted great! After the Christmas party, Elder Vicente told me we were going to go teach the Tamayao family with the other Elders that live with us. It turned out that it was a surprise party for me and one of the other Elders, Elder De Dios, who had a birthday recently as well! I am happy to report that the party was equipped with cake, which was amazing, as cake is a precious rarity here (as no one has ovens).

This last week was very busy for Elder Vicente and I. First,on Wednesday, we had splits with the zone leaders, which was nice. I was once again able to learn quite a bit from the Elder that I went on splits with, and to receive feedback on my abilities as well. I have learned that feedback on the mission is a must! In school, when I was learning how to become proficient in a skill, I knew how well I was doing because I had grades, tests, and quizzes. However, there are of course no grades on a mission. As nice as that may sound though, it has actually been a challenge not having grades to give me feedback on my performance on where I am, and where I ought to be. I just have to try my best and rely on the Lord to enhance my abilities and trust that I am learning as fast as He would have me learn. This fact is a faith builder for sure!

This last week, it started raining, and it didn't stop for over three days! Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of flooding in result. This is where I can relay a small miracle that my companion and I experienced. On Thursday, my companion and I had to travel to an adjacent area, Enrile, for my companion to interview a baptismal candidate. It was our first time travel to Enrile, so we got on a jeepney to go into the area, and when we got off the jeepney, we didn't know exactly where to go. Just as we were going to have to ask some people in the area for directions, a member of the stake presidency pulled up, asked where we needed to go, and gave us a ride. After the interview, as we were leaving, the river was beginning to spill over the only roadway into Enrile. If the process for the interview had taken any longer, we would have been stranded in an area with sister missionaries only, meaning we would have had no place to sleep. If our travel hadn't been expedited by the member, it would have been an unfortunate situation for sure.

On Saturday, Elder Vicente and I returned to Enrile to help a member clean up their home. After we left Enrile from the interview, the area was under three feet of water for a good period of time. In spite of the fact that everybody's homes were flooded, and in result covered in filth, everybody was happy as if it was a normal day. And, the members were very grateful for our service to them. The people here really are happy here no matter the circumstances.

Have a very merry Christmas everybody!

Love,

Elder Pulley