August in the Philippines

Elder Lundy and Elder Ardon

Hello Mother dear!

Sounds like you guys had a fun Saturday.
(Dad and I went to 2 farmer’s markets and lots of garage sales)
You would enjoy going to the palengke here. You can barter. Nothing has a set price. You can find most anything you want as well. I would have you avoid the meat section though. It stinks bad and getting splashed by fish is not fun.

So I told Dad about a recipe I think you should try. It’s one of my favorites here if the cook is any good. I told Dad the process, and ingredients. You can judge the amounts based on how many are eating. You’re good at that.

We had 2 less active members return this week. In total we had 13 less active members at church and 3 investigators. We have several new people that we are going to try and give a baptismal date to this week. Hopefully that goes well.

This is a Carabao

I also ate carabao steak. A less active Tay fed us it last Sunday. It’s delicious! Like beef jerky in taste but moist and luscious like steak. We got a total of 22 lessons this week. A new high for us I believe...

This week we have transfers. A large chunk of my district and zone are being transferred. Almost half I believe... All of my sisters keep getting transferred on me as soon as we become friends! :(

I don't like that.

I also notice that my English is junk! My Tagalog isn't getting that much better though. I’m just slowly broadening my vocabulary...

Elder Ardon is doing great. He can do and teach most anything he needs now. We’re still a little shaky on lesson 2, but anything else is fine.

President has explained in his letter to us today that there are going to be many leadership positions being changed this transfer, and he especially pointed to district leaders and trainers, of which I am both… I am hoping that the Lord doesn't want anything to change just yet, but if he does, I’ll do what he wants. I want to finish training Elder Ardon…

Elder Lundy and Elder Ardon

Something I have felt prompted to talk to most of the family about today is family home evenings. I honestly can't remember having more than one or two my entire life. Our family needs that. Keep it simple, but formal. Scripture reading isn't enough. Our family needs that. That is a huge factor in binding a family together. I have seen it many times here on the mission. I also feel that would have solved a lot of our problems over the years if we just did it. Opening closing prayer and hymn, spiritual thought, lesson, activity. Of course there should be food. As Lundy’s that is a must. Desserts preferred... :)

(Disclaimer, Our Family had FHE. Not on Mondays, because Dad had to be away on Monday nights. Usually we taught by action not a sit down lesson. Our children learned better that way. We did a lot of service projects as our activities and taught as we worked. I guess we should have had a few more formal lessons. We did however have the treats he was suggesting. They were a big motivator.)

Can you guys talk about that as a family?
Well, I don't have much more. I gotta get out of here.
I love you!!!!!!!!!!!! :*

Your son,

Elder Lundy

CTR stands for "Choose the Right"

Wow what a picture...

(Dad shared his letter this week)

What’s up Daddy-o?! :)

Lots is happening here in the mission. We have

transfer day on Thursday. Half of my district is probably being transferred. I don't think there is going to be a transfer with us, but we’ll see.
I made a new dish this week! It’s called Mango. It’s a lot like Split pea soup, but different. You boil mung beans (a lot like lentils if I remember right...) until they are super soft and the water turns green and thickens a bit. You also fry baboy, oh yah, that would be pork. Fry that and onions and garlic until it’s all cooked and yummy. Then you mix the mung beans and pork mixture together, season with salt and pepper to taste. And Enjoy! Usually there is also malunggay leaves in the mung beans when it is boiled, but I don't know if there is any of that in America. You just add it in at the end since it cooks really fast. I like it a lot .when it’s done it shouldn't be soupy, but it should not be dry at all. There should be liquids. It should be something like a stew type consistency. We just put that on rice and its great! You should have mom give it a try. I’m sure she could figure it out. I added it to my cookbook this morning.

Malunggay leaves.

(In the Philippines, Moringa is referred to as malunggay or malungay. Others refer to moringa as horseradish tree, benzolive tree, kelor, marango, mlonge, moonga, nébéday, saijhan, sajna or Ben oil tree. Moringa contains more than 90 nutrients and 46 types of antioxidants. With all the health benefits of moringa, it can easily be termed as the most nutritious plant on the face of the earth. There are no side-effects of moringa tree leaves which have been proved till date. At the same time it can be consumed by small children and adults alike. Therefore, many people have started using it in porridge, pastas, breads, etc., to reap the everlasting health benefits of the extraordinary 'moringa'.)

We had a good week with our work as well. It started with the finish of a
couple bad weeks. I was really out of it. Beating myself up. Like that.
Then I had my quarterly interview with President Carlos. He started out by saying something to the effect of "Elder Lundy, how are you? What’s going on? What’s up with you? You’ve lost your spark." After that interview and his last weekly letter, I am doing much better now.

Our work has exploded and we have several new baptismal candidates.
We had 13 less active members at church and 3 investigators. Hope and faithfulness. That has been the key to our work this week, and will be for many to come.

Dad, I love you. I miss you as well, but I am happy in the work. I can't believe that this isn't what I get to do for the rest of my life. That’s kinda sad... you and mom should serve a mission. Set goals. Work towards them. My suggestion, start a mission fund savings account. Turn the dream into reality. And have a family home evening every week!

I love you Dad!!! :*



Have FHE!