Well I'm alive and in the mission field

That's right i made it to Tacloban safely and on time! But nothing would ever be an adventure unless we had a little excitement to get your blood pumping on the way. To preface this I forgot to bring my camera to send pictures from this week and the last but I promise i will bring it next week for sure.

So monday night i called home and it was great to talk to all of you and hear your voices. Thank you all so much for your  love and support. There's no way i could do this without your prayers and love. We got on the plane from LAX to Hong Kong at 1 in the morning utah/az time. From there we just sat and slept for the next 15 hours. It was really cool racing the sun to China. It was dark basically the entire flight except the last hour. we got to Hong Kong and  I took a few pictures/ (Next week I promise) I borrowed a razor from  Elder Robertson (He's headed to Bacolod) and we waited for about an hour. We had to go through security again. and then we just waited at the gate in Hong Kong. At about 30 minutes to board, Elder Shields comes up to me and says "I can't find my passport" Im thinking you have got to be joking me... but no he really couldnt find it. I said a prayer in my heart asking for a miracle. I did not want to leave my companion in China but  the instructions on the travel plans said it is more important to not miss a flight than to wait for someone. After my prayer we  were sprinting through the Hong Kong airport back down the up escalator to security. No dice... Things were really starting to look bad. I prayed again asking for a miracle because we had been obedient all week long. We sprinted back to the gate, hurdling a janitor cart in the process (in my suit too)...the line was gone but the plane was there and the staff knew what was happening. one of the workers asked if she could go through his bag. within 20 seconds she had found it.  We got on the plane for Manila and all was well. God is a God of miracles. He blesses those who have been obedient and faithful. I still can't believe we made it, but we did.

So wednesday night (we lost tuesday cuz of the international date line) we flew to Tacloban. I tried talking to a woman on the plane but cebuano and waray are just too different. It's all good though. We got to Tacloban around 5:30 and President Andaya and the APs were there to pick us up. We went to the Mission Home and had dinner and interviews than we went to the apartment and slept.

Thursday we had more training and orientation from President and Sister Andaya. (Don't worry Mom and Jess, I now know how to  stay healthy and survive here in the Philippines)

Friday Morning we drove to Palo. That's where Leyte landing is with the MacArthur monument. It was really cool. This is where we met our trainers. It was really cool. we all got in a circle and they calledeach new missionary to the front and said their language they'd be learning, zone, area and then trainer. I'm speaking Cebuano (big thanks to the Lord on that one) in the Ormoc zone in the area of Villaba. My trainer is Elder Cottle. He's from American Fork and has been here in the Philippines since April this year. He's is a huge help to me. Even though I'm in a cebuano area its difficult to understand all the words that the members are saying. He is great at the language. Villaba is on the northwest part of Leyte. We took a bus from Tacloban to Kananga and then a van to Villaba. Our apartment is literally a stone's throw away from the ocean. (picture coming i Promise!)

Saturday we finally got to work. We went to a branch activity in the morning and then we taught the Balombao family in the afternoon. I could understand most of the conversation but I wanted to make sure I was getting the right idea and be able to answer Tatay Balombao's questions. It was great. We taught about prophets and apostles. I testified that Thomas S Monson is a prophet today. 

Church was great. I played the piano for sacrament meeting. There are a lot of less actives here in Villaba so our main focus is trying to reactivate everyone. Last weeks attendance was 47 of about 120 or so. Elder Cottle and I have made goals to really improve that this week. 

All is well and I'm excited to get to work this week. Please pray for me.

Love you all!

Elder McGuire