It was really good to be able to talk with you on Monday. Christmas was a great one. I enjoyed it very much.
Since we talked on Monday some new events have happened. I’ll go through them.
First Monday at two o'clock I got my companion. His name is Brother Enriquez. When I forget his name I just think of Eric’s name in Spanish and then add a "z". He is from Talamban here in Cebu City, so he is not too far from home. It is probably about a 40 min jeepney ride if there isn't traffic. He has a mission call to the Philippines Davao Mission, the third largest city in the Philippines coming after Manila and Cebu City. He enters the MTC on January 14 so he will only be my companion for about 2 weeks. After that I guess I get a new one. They are still trying to get it all figured out. One of the best up-sides to having a non-missionary companion is that every lesson has a member present and I don't have to worry about getting a member to as many lessons so we can teach the females. There has to be a non-missionary adult male for us to teach lessons. So that will help the work move right along. Often we cannot teach lessons because there are only females home. Brother Enriquez is going to be a great missionary. We taught a lesson on faith on our first day together and he nailed it! I was so impressed. He is pretty shy though because he is just brand spankin' new and hasn't even been into the MTC yet. Also he lives with three Americans which I am sure is a shocking experience. He is good at English though so that helps. When a missionary first gets into the field they are born and their trainer is their father. I was talking to Elder Stirland about what I am going to call him since he hasn't even been born yet. He is still like a fetus. I don't get my actual son until next transfer. Elder Stirland told me he is like my puppy. In the movie Marley and Me the guy gets a dog to prepare him to be a father. So I don't have a son yet, but I've got a puppy! I guess I'm just being prepared for the real deal.
The second thing was that we got to sing in the multi-stake cantata last night. We got there at 3:30 and learned the song Candle Lite Carol. They didn't have sheet music, only the words so we had to learn it just by singing it over and over and over again. But at 6:30 we sang. Success! It was fun to be able to support my new ward and get to know the members better. I also got to see members from four of my last areas. That was fun.
For the question about the carport, I always like wood better than carpet. Here in the Philippines they don't even have carpet. I have never seen it outside of the temple or a church building. It just doesn't exist here. No vacuums.
Also about the nativity sets, I just met a guy yesterday who can get them made out of oyster shells. It looks really cool. He showed me some samples of animals he had made. It has a Mary, Joseph, Jesus, 3 kings, I think 2 shepherds and 3 animals, a carabao, a pig and a chicken, the animals of the Philippines! It is expensive though. It is P3500 or about $80. They stand about 6" tall. Let me know. I’ll try to find a cool cheap one.
Love you all. Take care,
Elder Schenk
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