So this week if I can say one thing is PUNTED.Punted in english translates to rejected, sadly because it was the week of Christmas there wasn't a lot of people home and there were a lot of Christmas parties so people were always busy...
AND RAIN! There was so much rain this week I was just trying to imagine it as snow but it didn't help haha but once I was soaked I didn't really care anymore and it was definitely nicer than sweating in the heat!
The highlight of the week of course was Christmas because it was my first one away from home. I realized this Christmas that it doesn't really matter where you are as long as you still have the right intentions and even without the family, friends or gifts I still found myself loving Christmas and realizing how important the birth of Jesus Christ was for the world. It was really cool to be able to teach people about the Christmas story and highlight Christ as the gift!
Christmas day the streets were cleared and the craziness of the Philippines seemed to be turned down a few notches! It was nice to have a chance to skype home. And later in the day we had a BAPTISM! A Christmas baptism! The sister missionaries in our ward had one too so I had the opportunity of baptizing their baptism candidate Our whole mission strived to have at least one baptism per companionship on Christmas resulting in 205 convert baptisms this past Christmas! So that is what we call a white Christmas in the Philippines.
The ward was really good to us as well. We had a few dinner appointments and a huge one on Christmas eve with the Buslay family who always spoil us! Sister Buslay kept telling me to eat and eat! They say I will "grow with love" I guess they just want me to get fat!
Also it is really nice to be in a ward that is so involved in missionary work and so many young men and women are so willing to work with us! The fellowshippers in the ward are awesome and really do all they can to make less actives and investigators feel welcome!
One of the nights while we were walking home we saw a long term investigator who is a "seacat" driver which is a little bike attached to a cart. He is a long term investigator because he has been going to church for the past 4 years but can't quit his addiction to cigarettes so he can't be baptized.. but he saw us on the way home and offered us a ride, halfway there I asked him if I could give it a try and that is what the picture is of! IT WAS HARD WORK. My thighs were burning!
So the Christmas season here was different but great! Also everything is progressing and we have another baptism set up for this week! Thank you for all the prayers and support!
With love,
Elder Warnick
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