Hello everyone from the town of Tanza! Last night on our way home just before we entered our subdivision we saw a Caucasian guy walking on the other side of the street! I did an immediate double take and caught myself staring at him. He did the same thing to me and then he waved excitedly to us.  He then crossed the street to come talk to us, which is a little flip-flopped from how it usually goes down (because us missionaries are always the ones approaching people)!  It turns out he is from Florida and moved here after he retired. He lives in the subdivision right across the street from ours and said to come by if we wanted to talk, which is awesome!  He has even traveled through Olympia and Tumwater before!  Holy cow, what a small world!

We had a baptism on Saturday, which is the first one I have had the opportunity to be a part of.  It was a great experience to help someone come closer to Christ in an event that will forever change his life.  He’s a 12 year old young man who lives about 2-3 kilometers away from where we live, and he likes having us over!  His grandma is a member of the church and is a really good example to him.  We will now start reteaching the lessons to him and help clarify any questions that he has!  It was a great experience for everyone involved.

Hunter & Young man ready for his baptism.

This week we have been focusing on getting new investigators. The best way to do that here is to OYM (Open Your Mouth) or by doing street contacting.  It’s difficult to speak to the local people in Tagalog but I’m trying to get the grammar and language down so that I can talk to people.  My companion is a good example to me. Yesterday we had a contact with a man and it turned out to be a great experience for us and him. He decided that he wants to be baptized and learn more about the church!  We’ll teach him again soon!Fortunately the earthquake in Bohol didn’t reach Tanza!  I heard it was pretty crazy though.  I hope all the missionaries there are okay!  They are very well protected.  (Editor’s note:  Hunter is referring to a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the island of Bohol on Monday morning, October 14, 2013 at about 8:30 am local time.  The epicenter was situated about 300 miles Southeast of Hunter’s mission so it wasn’t felt where he is at.  To date the death toll from the quake has exceeded 90 people and property damage was pretty significant.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Filipino families and missionaries who are dealing with this tragedy).

I haven’t had anything too weird to eat yet!  But there are some realllllly good cooks in the Tanza branch (local unit of the church) and they said they’re going to help me become adjusted to the food. Slowly but surely they’ll give me new things to try so I am looking forward to that!

Elder Burbidge and the Tanza Branch Mission Leader

I miss everyone back home so much, but this work is SO important!  The results of this work are ETERNAL.  Families are so important in this life and this plan.  Think about how many blessings and how much happiness you’ve gained from and felt from your family.  We can have that forever if we are obedient and give our all to the Lord!  I love this work, it’s becoming to be more enjoyable for me now that I’m adjusting.

I hope everything is going well at home! Know that I love you and pray for you always!

Elder Hunter Burbidge