I am Training again!!!!! I am pretty excited.  I went from training to follow up training to training again, so I have pretty much just been working with new missionaries for most of my mission.  My whole batch of Americans are training to so it will be pretty exciting.  My guess is that I will train an American because there are 14 coming in.  (And 5 Filipinos, and 2 from Pakistan.)  

   We have some great investigators that continue to progress.  We actually played basketball this morning with Reymon (who is going to be baptized next month) and it turns out he is way better than us.  This last week we found and gave a baptismal date to May.  May is 19 and she is the sister of one of our other Investigators.  What happened is that she suddenly moved back home to live with her mom (a returning less active) and she is way receptive.  She came to church yesterday and sat with her sister Jamaica in our investigator class.  Our Gospel principles teacher is pretty amazing by the way.  

     This week we were walking down a street of probably the most stiff necked people in Lingayen.  I swear everyone on this street did not want anything to do with us, and at that point all we were doing was looking for a person that lived there.  Well we were walking away after talking to a super mean woman (I hope that she was just having a bad day and isn't that mean to everyone always, because she was really grouchy) anyway as we were walking we heard someone say Elders.  So we looked at this house that's doors were closed and looked like nobody was home.  We walked to the house and there was some little kids.  They said that missionaries used to come to their house, but then the family went to Manila.  Well now they're back, and so are the missionaries, here to teach them again.  

     Speaking of finding through children, last week we taught a group of kids on the street how to pray.  I may have mentioned that.  A few days ago we went and contacted the families of most of those kids.  We've taught one family, have appointments with a few others, but yesterday something completely unexpected happened.  A large group of our children came to church.  Not with their parents (hopefully next time) but just the kids.  We filled the primary...much to the 'delight' of the primary teacher.  The kids came to church, and were not 'too rowdy'.  I did not expect them to come, we did invite them, but they're kids (oldest is 12) and we didn't expect much.  This gives us a little more initiative to be sure and follow up on their families.  

      Right now we have two less active families in the hospital.  Julieann has dengue fever, and they don't know why Gilbert is in the hospital, or rather what his sickness is.  Both families are progressing, but of course neither came to church as both have children in the hospital.  Actually Ritche, Julieann's brother did come to church.  

     We have another returning less active right now who told us he wants to serve a mission.  He really doesn't know what he needs to do but we will help him get out there.  

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Have a good week, keep your head up, and smile.
                                                                           Elder Nathaniel J. Merrill