Hello everyone! After six months in the City of Tanza I am now definitely in a new city called “Kawit”. It is to the north and east of Tanza and closer to our mission headquarters. It’s a super small area compared to Tanza, but it has a ward of over 500 members and I am eager to serve here.  It has it’s own unique character that will take some getting used to, but the people are so nice! I’ve had times of ultimate joy just speaking to them. They are so humble and so kind. I’ve learned more in the last five days then I have in a long time.  The transfer went okay mainly thanks to a senior missionary couple who transported my luggage in their vehicle – but it was still a lot of work getting to my new area!

Elder Burbidge’s new area of Kawit.

Our apartment is being sold by the owner, and we don’t have anywhere to go, so we’re kind of in a transitional situation. I’m actually living right across the street from a HUGE mall called SM Bacoor, but we commute into Kawit everyday to perform our work. The Kawit Chapel is under renovation too, so we have to go to a chapel in Noveleta to go to church and do district meetings.

The missionary that was here before me went home on Wednesday, and he left me quite a bit of organizing to do – so it feels a little bit like I am opening an area, training my new companion, and trying to be a District Leader all at once! It’s pretty stressful, but I can feel the love of the Lord so strongly. When I start to stress out, I feel the Spirit tell me that all is well.

The work has been a little slow here in the past few years, but we are dedicated to making improvements! We already found a family of six yesterday that we’ll teach, and there is one guy who is a construction worker for the Kawit chapel that is REALLY interested. A golden investigator… he’s amazing. I learn from him every time we talk. Also, there is a recent convert that is 9 years old who studies in the Doctrine and Covenants and asked me the other day, “Why did Adam need to be a prophet if there weren’t any people to guide on the earth?” He loves deep doctrine!

My companion, Elder Kalio, has only been out on his mission for just under four months. He is from Micronesia and he knows quite a bit of english but isn’t fluent, and his Tagalog is still coming along.   He is a great missionary because of his desire to serve and I look forward to getting to know him better. Also, he is a twin and his brother is currently serving a mission in Australia – so that is a cool thing we have in common.

Following are some photos from my last couple of weeks in Tanza, including a trip we took the Tagaytay Overlook.  Tyler’s mission area is just below the lookout but I could not see him walking around down there no matter how hard I tried!  I love you all and appreciate the support!

Love,

Elder Hunter Burbidge

Elders Burbidge and Doloritos at Tagaytay Overlook.

Friends and fellow missionaries in Tanza.

The whole Tanza District at Tagaytay.