Hey everyone,

I'm doing really well over here; the new area is great! It's way different than all my other areas. It is SO loud here! In my other areas, a lot of people couldn't afford a vehicle, but here it seems like everyone has one so there are always loud horns and exhausts wherever you go (exhaust here is totally different than back home because there are no sound laws).

I remember in one of my areas I could look over the Manila Bay and see the city and it always had a dark cloud of pollution around it. That is my area now and there really is a lot of pollution, because there are so many people living here that they literally live on top of each other.

The work here is a little different too. Out in the province, you can just knock on doors and people will let you in but not here in the city. Luckily, there are some really good members in the ward who give referrals and somehow we just get new investigators without really knocking on doors.

I did go to the hospital again this week, but it wasn't for me this time haha :) My companion had in-grown toenails that needed to be removed. I never thought I would be in hospitals so much while on my mission, but it seems like missionaries get sick a lot out here. However, the Lord always gets us back on our feet pretty quick and then we are out working again. We have been working hard this week and it looks like we are going to have a lot of success in the coming months.

Love, Elder Smith