Christmas in the Philippines!

Here is how Sam described his Christmas in Estancia:

(After our telephone conversation…) we headed to our branch Christmas party at the
church. we got to watch a few of the little dances/performances, ate,
then watched them play a few games before leaving, including one where
the younger kids danced boy/girl with a ball about the size of a golf
ball held between their heads, and whoever kept it there the longest
one! then an apple eating contest with the same kids, where there were
apples hanging from strings and they had to eat them as fast as they
could w/o hands. it was very fun to watch, and so fun for the kids.
Then they had a Filipino piñata! They had clay pots with a little bit
of candy that they hung and swung at blindfolded ha-ha I have some
pictures I’ll send hopefully next week. I didn’t bring my camera
because we just got back from roxas, at 6 at night! and we are in a
super rush to get our laundry and everything done tonight! After the
Christmas party was a normal day of work! We taught a couple lessons
and tried to focus on the Savior and His birth. We visited a part
member family that didn’t go to the party, because they said they were
embarrassed because they didn’t have any money so they couldn’t
contribute to the food like they should have. It was a very down mood
when we arrived, but we shared about Christ and it lightened up a
little bit. It makes me realize how blessed I have been in my life.
For this family, and many others, Christmas was a normal day of work,
maybe even a little worse than normal knowing that so many other
people were enjoying celebrating the holiday. I was glad that we could
help lift their spirits a little bit talking about the true spirit of
Christmas, but I still wish there was more we could have done. We have
been so blessed with the lives we've grown up in! We had a couple
other lessons then had dinner together with the other missionaries. It
was a very eye-opening Christmas for me.

Waiting for the Phone Call!

We are anxiously waiting the phone call from Sam on Christmas Eve at about 7:30 p.m. That is their Christmas day, about 10:00 a.m. We get to talk to him on Skype, without the video, but we are so anxious to just hear his voice. He is doing very well! He says they are working on finding more investigators that will progress along in the gospel. But, they feel fortunate because they usually have 11 investigators at church which is really quite remarkable. Sam has a Filipino companion now. Sam has negotiated with him to do the cooking--he likes the food he has fixed so far! His companion wants Sam to also cook some American dishes--ha! Sam never was one to spend "time in the kitchen." He is trying to learn the language well as his companion doesn't speak English much better than Sam speaks Ilonggo. So we will keep you updated on the progress!