Hey Mum and Whanau,
Thanks once again for the awesome emails and pictures. It's so good to see that everyone is doing well and you all look so great in the pictures. Good to hear that the parents are home and safe and that the miracles are flowing. That's amazing. I'm doing great here in Tanay. It's a sweet area but its so far away from the rest of the world and it takes ages to get anywhere from here.
Today is Temple day and as a zone we planned to go to the first session at 7:00 a.m. So, because we live so far from the Temple, we woke up at 3:30 a.m. showered, got changed and were out of the house by about 4:15 a.m. to catch a van all the way into Medical city which is close to where President lives. We then taxied to the Temple and it took us about two hours in total to get to the Temple. We made it on time for the 7:00 a.m. session and it was awesome but I was feeling a bit droopy eyed during the session. My bad, but it was so awesome being in the House of the Lord again and I realized that the next time I go to the Temple it will be the day before I come home. Oh man! After we finished up at the Temple we caught a jeep home but it took us about 3 hours to get back . It was really hot and the pollution was quite strong and we were cramped up in this smallish sized jeep. But I love it and I'm going to miss it. Bytheway, I had to get a chest x-ray as part of my exit regulation requirements just to show that everything is normal. They just check if we have any problems with TB or stuff like that. The doctor said that it didn't look like I had any problems so I'm happy.
So, the two baptisms we had lined up went great and according to plan. However, we did start a bit late because our presiding leader thought it started at 5:00 p.m. instead of 4:00 p.m. but it all worked out. Both of them have been confirmed and should receive the Aaronic Priesthood next week. It's awesome to see people enter the waters of baptism and we also found two more potential priesthood investigators to replace the ones we just baptized. Cool aye.
I am now oficially 21! WOW! I'm an old man now. Hehe! I was looking at my pictures from my MTC days and I look so young compared to now. I've had people say to me that I look like I'm 28 or 30 years old mainly because they judge age according to size and because I'm a freakishly large person, they think I'm older... dunno but it's awesome. So, on my birthday we had our district leader training which was cool because two other Elders from my batch were also there and while the other Elders were doing the workshops and stuff we were just sitting back saying how we've been there and done that and how it feels so weird being the oldest in the mission now.
Yesterday reminded me that I only have one more month to go. CRAZY! It's all coming to an end too quickly and I know that I've still got a lot of work to do here before I leave. I'm not excited to leave and I know it's going to be hard because I've learnt so much from these great people that I've grown to love, I've learnt to serve and I've learnt to respect. It's so important to look on the inside of someone and not just on their physical stature. I know I've got to apply all these things to my life when I get back. RMs any tips?
I received my itinerary and I will be coming home on May 23rd, landing at 12:00 noon. Awesome! One concern Mum is that I'm only allowed to bring one 20 kg bag home with a carry on and one personal item. That doesn't seem fair because it will mean that I will have to leave so much stuff - mainly clothes and maybe some books. Please make sure I've got some funds in my account for when I travel because if I get charged for luggage I'm going to worry. I trust that the Lord will help me work it out and I might end up buying an extra backpack for all my books so I can take it on the plane. I need my books. It's going to be fun packing and I just had the thought that when I email next week I'll have 3 weeks left. Man, I am counting down on one hand.
On the flip side of things, Elder Merrill is doing really well and he and I are sweet. No problems and I'm trying to help him with his language so his mission will be a success. He was happy on Saturday when we had the baptisms. He said, "Two more souls saved!" Cool aye! Those were his first baptisms for his mission and we are hoping to have another two in the upcoming weeks.
The mission is amazing and I'm loving it but I know I'm definitely going to miss it but I also know I have my friends back home to help me keep on track when I get home. Mum you're right when you say that I will want to visit the mission again one day. I'm going to plan a return visit and you can come as well Mum. Hehe.
I love you all so much. Four more weeks na lang. Grabe talaga ang bilis ng panahon.. sobra. Ingat kayo lage. Mahal ko kayo.
Elder Chadderton
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