Dear Family,
This transfer I didn't waste a minute trying to guess where I'd be transferred or who my new companion would be. I knew it wouldn't make any difference and I'd just tire out my thinker. So even the night before, eating my last meal in Palayan City, I resisted the urge to guess. Thursday morning I carried my luggage out and we hopped on a jeepney. Upon arriving at the chapel, Elder Manguiat came out to greet me and congratulate me for being assigned to serve in Baler! I couldn't tell if he was serious... but it's true! I never would've thought, I never thought for a minute I'd be called to serve in Baler. There are only 8 missionaries there, it's a four hour bus ride from the closest zone -- cabanatuan. My area is San Luis, we're a few kilometers from the Pacific Ocean. It's truly Paradise there... I say there because I'm in Cabanatuan at the moment, the district and zone leaders have a meeting here tomorrow morning. I'm a district leader and my companion is named Elder Casilac from Davao, it's his second area, and I really have enjoyed our first few days together. I think we hit it off right. Here in the inland it's tag-araw (summer) and it hasn't rained in months. They are planting onions now. But in the Baler Valley on the other side of the Sierra Madre mountains, it rains almost every day, and it's green and lush. It's the jungle and the mountains surrounding us and the vegetation are something right out of the emporers new groove -- somewhere in the jungle. At night time the fireflys come out, in tagalog alitaptap -- and swarm around in the trees.
The Branch is the San Luis branch, and it's the newest branch in the year old district of Baler. Last week their attendance was 19, and for my first week it jumped up to 29. But it's reached 45 and 50 pretty regularly as well. Yesterday I felt so sorry for the poor branch president. His counselors went home early and he told us how helpless he felt during PEC. But we hit the ground running on Thursday night -- after the long ride. The ride on a D-Liner bus is completely different than the car drive! There was a little girl next to us, there wasn't any room on the bench next to her mom so she was sitting on a big cooking pot with an upside-down lid. She kept staring at me (I remembered that I was American) and I kept slipping her pieces of orange whenever she looked like she was about to start crying. Her mom was prepared with plastic bags if her two children got bus sick. I thought I was going to get bus sick. Better/Worse than a roller-coaster. 4.5 hours.
We had a curfew on New Years Eve -- 5pm. I got to work cleaning the apartment, which was a mess, while my companion cooked tinola and adobo for our new years eve feast. We got to bed at 10:30 but were woken at midnight by the fireworks and somebody singing at the catholic church just down the street. We were so tired we said "Elder! Happy New Year!" and went back to sleep. San Luis is a little town -- really little. We don't have a palengke or anything, we're really out in the jungle, but there are a lot of people there, even with no businesses. We've been busy tracting and teaching first lessons this week, but there are some investigators that are promising and that have been investigating for a while. None of them made it to church yesterday but that's because they were out of town for the holidays. I expect to get the packages tomorrow -- but I have to apologize -- I've written letters to grandparents, you (parents) and to others, but there just isn't a post-office in our area! It might be some time before any of my letters get off. Please accept my apologies!
I'll give you an update on the work next week, my hopes are sky high! I just want to be out working all the time now and I'm so excited about the work. It's bigay-todo time (just like always) I'm giving it my all, I can say that my heart and mind is completely in the work. I love it! I love you too, family! It looks like everyone had a great time, I loved the pictures, and hope everyone has an equally adventurous week in the school-room this coming week.
Love, Elder Peck
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