Hey everyone!

Well I'm finally here in the Philippines! My area is Naic, which is a ways from Manila. My companion is Elder Riparip. He is Filipino and this is his first time training. He is a really good Elder and is always trying to work his hardest and do the best that he can. It's so different here than back home. I think the Lord has sent me here to humble me and show me how blessed I am. People here have so little. I realized I took a lot of things for granted back home. Just the simple things we have they don't have here; like hot water, clean water, showers, washing machines, carpet, and traffic laws. My companion and I live in one of the nicer homes and we just have a hose to shower with. An Elder said they don't have traffic laws here, they have traffic suggestions. But the people here are really great.

All the kids get really excited when they see us walking down the streets. They always run up and want to shake your hand or hold your hand and walk with you. It's kind of weird when 6 kids are holding your hand as you walk down the street. I tried out smarting them by putting my hands up where they couldn't reach them but they just grab your shirt.

The people are always feeding us which is kind of hard for me because I really can't eat that much. The food is different but most of the time it's pretty good; LOTS of rice though. People just let us into there homes. I don't know if they care what we teach because I can't understand them, but I'm working on that.

The language is way different here. Eveyone speaks with an accent so it's really hard to understand them. Even if they speak English it's hard for me to understand. But I know that with the Lord's help all things are possible and through Him, I will be able to learn this language.
I hope everything is going well back home. Thank you for all your prayers. Love you all.

Love, Elder Smith