Maligayang Bagong Taon,

I can’t believe it’s already 2011! The time is going way fast over here for me. My area is really great; I can see a lot of potential here. Right now we are actually working on two areas about 20 miles apart. We live in Roxas and we go to Magara about twice a week. We are hoping to start building that area and see if we can start a branch. The Magara area is actually where we seem to be having the most success. We are just trying to get the investigators over there to gain a strong enough testimony to be baptized and support a new branch. The funny thing is we have several eight and nine year old children that love going to church but I don’t think they are ready for a church calling in a branch. If you remember, I would appreciate your prayers asking the Lord to testify to the people in Magara. They enjoy learning the gospel and they believe it’s true because we say so, but they haven’t received a strong assurance from the Lord.

This area is very maganda (beautiful) with the ocean and mountains and jungles; it’s really far from city life. Over this week, I’ve wondered if this place is too far from city life because for some reason they like to shut the power off. There has only been one day this whole week where I’ve woken up and we still had electricity. The power usually goes off at about four in the morning and then comes back on at about 8:30. Do any of you know how hard it is to get a good shave while using a candle? Harder than shaving is trying to iron your shirt. Without power, the ironing isn’t possible; I know from experience. We were washing laundry this morning (by candle light) when the water stopped working too. But despite all the temporal stuff, I’m have a great time serving the Lord. I love you all.

Love, Elder Smith