Mga kaibigan at pamilya ko,
Dahil sa Christmas Conference sa last two days ako, wala akong oras na mag-email itong linggo.
Briefly on Christmas Conference: It was essentially a gathering of all the missionaries in the mission in Fort Ilocandia near Laoag City. The conference was two days. The first day we had a opening devotional, followed by a few hours of catching up. Then we had a nice dinner, followed by presentations of music and dance by all the zones. It was pretty wild how much stuff went on. I’m now known by my stellar performance in our zone’s mini-“Viga-talent” show, being a judge whose only response to every act was to smile and give two thumbs up. The second day we had some more activities as zones, and then we had a mission-wide training meeting. Following the training meeting, the mission president announced all the transfers and the creation of a new zone. Hopefully the Lord’s work will be blessed by the movement of all the missionaries.
I will send a longer email next week in apology.
Mahal na mahal ko po kayo,
Elder Tripp
Answers to Mom’s questions: I’m glad that you are focusing on service this Christmas. I love how we can become like our Savior through giving as he did.
In terms of picking an area to donate to, the Missionary Handbook specifically prohibits missionaries from asking family members to donate to local causes. Sorry po.
Otherwise, things sound good with you all. I hope you continue to feel the love of God araw-araw despite the busyness of life.
Although our new house is pretty nice, it still has a couple problems, but we’re working towards solving those as quickly as possible. We still travel for church, but the bus ride is only ten minutes instead of twenty.
Tagalog
Mga kaibigan at pamilya ko - My friends and family
Dahil sa Christmas Conference sa last two days ako, wala akong oras na mag-email itong linggo. - Because of the Christmas Conference in the last two days I have no time to email this week.
Mahal na mahal ko po kayo - I love you very much
araw-araw - everyday