I figured Jonathan might like the picture I am sending. Elder Tolman's dad went to Manila on business and went to the Temple and happened to run into some missionaries. One of those missionaries is Tyler Haws. Tyler Haws is in the Quezon City mission, and they go to the Manila Temple every transfer cycle. So I'd mention to dad that I am reading the Old Testament too. Actually only in the mornings while I am eating breakfast. I don't read it during study time. There are a lot of funny phrases and stories in the Old Testament. One I found in 2 Kings says 'When they awoke in the morning they were all dead corpses.' Can't really awake when your dead. Now I am in Chronicles. Probably the most boring book of Scripture ever, but I think I found 2 variations of my name in it. One being Elnathan, the other being Natheneel. I think those spellings are right. The other interesting thing about Chronicles is it sometimes tells the same story a different way, so you get more insights. For example, in Kings David asks to build a temple and is told no by the Lord. I don't remember there being a reason, but in Chronicles it gives the reason that because David has shed a lot of blood he isn't allowed to build the temple. Somewhat interesting.

There is an Elder from our branch that just left on a mission. Elder Villanueva from Agoo 3rd Branch is going on a mission to Hawaii. He is worried because he has to learn English. I find it funny, because he speaks the language I need to know, and is worried about learning the language I already know. It's kind of weird seeing the other side, seeing a Filipino learning English. Yesterday (Sunday), our Branch President invited us over for dinner, he also invited one of our progressing investigator families. It was good for the family. There is a food in the Philippines called Balot, or maybe Balut, I've heard it pronounced both ways and seen it spelled both ways. The branch president said next time we eat at his house he is going to get me some. Balot is essentially a rotten duck egg. The members in our branch are very active in supporting the missionaries. They are very willing to help us with the work. We work with members all the time. The Rescue effort in the Philippines is going well, we heard that so far in the Philippines there have been 3000 returned less actives. That is an entire stake. We have a zone conference tomorrow, so President Jensen may talk more about that. The zone conference is actually a tri-zone conference. Which means I get to go to Baguio tomorrow. Other missionaries say that Baguio is the Mission shopping center. If you really need something American, you can find it in Baguio. Also, here in Agoo, something that a lot of members seem to be excited about, is that they are building a Makdo soon. (pronounced "Mack-dough") Makdo is just how the Filipinos say McDonald's. I don't know when that will be built, probably not until after I transfer. McDonald's is also really expensive, especially in the Philippines. Elder Tolman and I kind of discovered a new part of our area this week. We had the name of a member who was inactive. We kept asking people where we could find this person and they would tell us to keep going farther. They would say Doon, which means over there. We went past where we thought our area ended, and then kept walking even further. Our area is mostly bordered by the Zone leader's area, but there is a small portion bordered by the elders in the Tubao area. We were right next to their area, really far away from our home, and we found some members that lived there. That was miles away from our home. There were some really cool houses there too. It was a little in the mountains, and had really cool, but still very simple bamboo houses. When we got back we looked at a map of Agoo to figure out exactly where we had gone. Missionary work is pretty fun, it's not easy, but it's fun, and I am happy. I hope you all keep doing well, I'm sorry to hear about those who are not doing so well. Until next time,

Elder Nathaniel Merrill