Dear Family,
First off, Mom I would like to say sorry because I did not send you an
email before the Christmas Conference on Monday morning. But I hope as
I explain what happened in this email, you will not be mad with me and
will come to realize this was the funnest week of my whole mission for
sure.
Wednesday, we headed to the mission office bright and early to meet with
Elder Doorman and Elder Craythorne about the upcoming Christmas
Conference. I can say that these two Elders are the sickest APs in the
whole world. It takes a lot to be a good AP, but it takes special
people to do the things that we four were able to accomplish. In our
meeting, we finalized the games and activities that would be taking
place the following Monday and Tuesday. In short, we came up with the
crazy idea that we would make our Christmas conference a massive zone
challenge game show. I sent you the schedule so that you could all see
the things that were in the making of the madness. After our meeting,
we headed out to work to teach some of our investigators and bring
back some much needed less actives. We were able to have a great visit
with our soon-to-be-baptized investigator, Sister Catherine. She is so
pumped for her baptism this Saturday and she told me that she wants
all of her sins to be gone.
Saturday was the craziest day we have had in a while. We headed out in
the morning to teach some more lessons, as we had not the best days up
to Saturday. We were able to find a new family and they are super
sick. We taught them the first lesson and they said they will read the
Book of Mormon and pray. We then were able to visit a ton of less
actives and then it was off to the baptism of Sister Catherine. My
comp was the one to baptize her and it was so cool. She even brought
her best friend to her baptism. We will be visiting her next week to
start teaching her family. I was so happy with all the progress that
we were able to have today and with everything that was happening in
the mission.
Sunday, we headed to church and the blessings did not stop there.A
bunch of the people we talked to last week actually came to church for
all three hours! After church I got a call from Elder Doorman saying
that at 6pm we needed to be at the mission home to help set up for the
next day. I guess being an MC comes with a ton of work. Elder Larson
was called too, so we decide to go to the Christmas Devotional and then head
over to help the office staff. When we got there, we started to set up
the chairs and get all the decorations ready for the next day. Me and
Larson started to get the game show ready and all the little games
that went with it. After a free dinner from President Aquino, we headed
home late to get some much needed practice with our performance. Elder
Larson decided to sing 3 songs. The first is a remix of "I hope They
Call Me on a Mission" and Antique Living. The second was a song I
free-styled called The Problem Song. We had my brother, Elder Marikura,
help us with that one and it was so good. The third song I free-styled
on the spot to and it was called Bugasong Boys. I have never had so
much fun then when me and Larson get a good jam session on the guitar.
We also sang a song called "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flats.
Monday morning, the day is finally here that our whole mission will be
meeting in one small room for the most fun any of us have ever had. Me
and Elder Larson got there early to start with the set up of the many
games the mission would be playing. I will tell you that at some point
I will be able to get a video of the whole thing and then I will try
to send it home, but for now I will be sending some pics of me and
Larson singing and being the MCs of the whole Christmas
Inter-conference. The level of energy was so high and we had the whole
mission off their feet for most of the next 8 hours. When the whole
thing was over me and Larson just looked at each other and started
laughing. We had just taken over the mission for the last day and did
some crazy dance battles, had some crazy eating challenges, and had
some amazing jam sessions. I have made up my mind that when I get home
Elder Larson and I will be wedding singers. After the show we had so
many missionaries come up to us and say you can sing at my wedding for
sure. I don't have the words to describe what really happened and I was
not able to take pics because I was the MC but don't worry when I get
home there will be some amazing videos and pics that I will be able to
share with all of you.
Tuesday, we had a presentation of The Forgotten Carols and then we had
some spiritual devotionals on how we can keep this mission on FIRE. We
were also able to take pictures with everyone because the whole
mission was there, so it was super fun and we had the best time ever.
The last few days are the kind that when I look back on them I just
start to smile and think of all that happened and all the smiles and
cheers that I was able to see and be a part of.
I am so thankful for this opportunity given to me and Elder Larson by
the APs, Elder Craythorne and Elder Doorman. They really worked with us
to make the best Christmas this mission has ever seen. I really saw
the leadership they both have in all they do, It takes a great
leader to be able to take advice and then give it to everyone around
them. I am also thankful for my mission president, President Aquino, and all he
did for us this holiday season. Without him being so chill, we would
not have been able to have as much fun as we did. These last few days
have been a fulfillment of mine and Elder Larson's dreams since we
came into this mission. Our First and Last Mission Christmas Party was
a success because of the talents of so many.
I love you all back home and I am sorry again for being late, but just
know I am great and loving my time here in the mission. These really
are the best two years that anyone could ever have. Let us always
remember who this season is all about.
Love, Elder Swanton
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