New year, new area, new food, new companion...

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYBODY!!!!!

halo-halo mmmm masarap! [delicious]

It was sort of cool. When I got home from church yesterday, I said to Elder Oaing, "For my family, they still haven't watched the fire works yet." It's cool living 14 hours ahead of you all. I can experience all the fun holidays first. :)    

You may have noticed from that last paragraph that I said Elder Oaing. He is one of my new companions that I got. Key words: One of. I got 2 new companions this transfer. The other is Elder Carel. They're both super cool, but only one of them is still here. Elder Oaing just left at 2:00 this morning to go to the airport. He's now headed to New Mexico. Until now he's been serving about 6 months here waiting for his visa. It's actually super cool. His mission boundaries cover the 4 corners area, so he can serve in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. Guess what else, Page Arizona just so happens to also be in his mission, so maybe he'll be assigned there. Cool, huh? The only problem with this situation is that Elder Oaing was the only one assigned here last transfer, so Elder Carel and I have to fresh start this area now, and neither of us are familiar with the roads, people, investigators, or members. It's sort of hard, but we'll figure it out. The area book is super helpful. If any of you future missionaries are reading this, when you get out and serve, KEEP AN UPDATED AREA BOOK!!!!! Salamat! [thanks!] :)

Elder Carel is super cool. He's super funny, good at talking a lot (which is good, because I'm good at listening a lot. haha), and has sort of a higher pitched voice that is sort of fun to listen too. He is helping me learn how to use a rubik’s cube, so I'm gonna be a pro by the end of my mission. He knows how to do a 4x4, so that's super cool. I like him a lot!!!

I'm going to really miss my last area, and my investigators and people, but it's cool here too. We've got one kid who'll be baptized in a couple weeks. His name is Baste. Probably we'll have some more baptisms in February too. The members are super cool here too. The ward mission leader handed out a dinner calendar for us after Sacrament meeting yesterday, and after about 4 minutes, it was half way full. Next week it'll be all the way full, so that's fun, because food is fun! Usually. 

corn pudding :)

I had a new desert yesterday. It was some kind of corn pudding. Who puts corn in pudding? I guess Filipinos do. They do lots of stuff with corn. You can put it in your Halo-halo, or you could even just get some shaved ice, scoop some corn in there, a couple spoons of sugar, and a bit of condensed milk and BOOM! Maiz con yelo! (corn with rice) It's a popular snack here. Some people make a living just selling it on the side of the street. 

Halo halo is a filipino treat with shaved ice topped with things like jello, beans, corn, flan , fruit and ice-cream!

shaved ice with condensed milk,sugar,  jello and corn on top!

We had to come home early for New Years, so while everyone else in the  country was running around like crazy, we were up in our apartment, stuffing our faces with food that the members had given us. They gave us a lot of food: spaghetti, lasagna, little itty bitty brownie balls, a couple loaves of bread, and a lot more. It was fun!

That's fun that Claire and Jon are still there. I always like being around when everyone's in town playing basketball and stuff. I guess next year'll be super awesome!!! 

Anywho, I guess that's about all that's up with me. I would love to tell you more about my area, but I don't really know much yet. I guess next week will  be a bit more informative. Mahal kita!!!!

Elder Fawson

P.S. Maybe Brian can give me a massage when I get back too. My shoulders are feeling a bit stiff. :)