Missing winter

Dear Family,

Holy cow just like that your winter is over and spring is coming in
with a hot blast. I really miss those cold winter days back home the
best thing we can do here is just put our faces in front of the air
conditioner and put it on full blast. This week was not the craziness but I
will do my best to sum it up for all of you.

Tuesday after district meeting me and Elder Crichton headed back to my
old area Molo to do some baptismal interviews. It was so fun to visit
with some the members and be able to work there again and see the
progression that can take place in just a short time. After that we
did some work with our zone T shirts. We ended up getting punted for
the rest of the day and headed home.

Wednesday we woke up early so for splits but after checking the phone
they ended up cancelling on us and it was probable for the good
because me and Elder Crichton well we got really sick for the next two
days. I don't know if it was something that we ate or something in the
water but what ever it was we really got sick and ended up just
sleeping for most of the day on Thursday.

Friday we went on splits with the aps and that was a blast. I was
finally able to go to the aps area and see how they do it over there.
It was awesome to see how as a Zone leader I need my area to be the
best that it can be for the missionaries in my zone. Elder Smith and I
were able to have some good talks about how to help the area and how
we as leaders can help our zones become the best we can be.

Sunday turned into a great day full of dinner appointments and crazy
old people. After a great session of church we headed out to work and
visited a Less Active Nanay. She is like our mom in this area and she
is so nice to us. We finally figured out how to help her with her many
problems.

That about sums it up for the week, like I said not the most exciting
week but it was full of very spiritual lessons and teaching the best
and truest doctrine on earth, the Gospel  of the Jesus Christ.

I love you all and cant wait till next week,

Love Elder Swanton

Sometimes things get spicy

My family,

Our week did not turn out to be the best for us, but we did learn a lot
about who we are and what we want out of our mission life. I hope in
this email I am able to get out all I learned and what this mission
really means to me.

Wednesday was a super fun day full of splits and crazy people. I was
able to head over to San Miguel and work with Elder Bowden. It was one
of those days that makes you remember who you are and why you do it.
The area reminded me of Bugasong so it almost felt like coming home
and being with all my family. Elder Bowden and I had some good long
talks about the mission and how we can help the zone become the best
it can be. Then we went out to teach their most progressing family and
even though it ended up falling through we still had a good talk with
the family and ate some sweet yellow watermelon and then had a fun
time talking to all their neighbors about the Gospel. I wonder how
much longer the city will need me because I was meant for the
Mountains and they are calling my name haha.

Saturday we had a fun day full of baptisms in the ward. One of our
favorite families baptized their son Winter. When we got to the church
everyone was just so happy to be there and be able to watch a father
baptized his son. It's funny because in the States we take such things
for granted but I am so thankful to be able to witness this day. Just
his little smile as he came up out of the water and then on his way
out he "slipped" and fell back in. Everyone laughed so hard and he
just popped up and hopped out of the font.

Sunday turned into a long day. After
church we had lunch with the sisters and they cooked some super spicy
hot Bicol Express. " I will cook this for all of you when I get home".
When I got done eating my stomach was about to explode due to the
crazy chilly peppers and hotness. But after a small nap we were able
to get back out to work and teach the gospel to those who needed
it.The only lesson that went through was with our investigator and it was super
sad, he has been lying to us about his smoking and he still is just
not fully committing to the change.

Today was super fun because we had a zone activity and it turned out
to be so fun. We got permission to go to a beach in Oton, and have a
zone building activities. We did some frizbe and also some rugby,
then the sisters made some fun games with hula- hoops and water. It
ended up being a total success and the whole zone had so much fun.

It sounds like y'all had such a good week
and I wish I could have been there to see the babes but someday they
will see me again. I love you all and hope you have a good week.

Love ,
Elder Swanton