Pasko! 12/18

Dear Friends and Family,

I can hardly belive that this week is Christmas! This month has flown by. To start off this letter I want to share a miracle that we experienced this past week. Last week we had an appointment to teach two investigators who are students at a university here. When we went to their house their next store neighbor called out to us and told us they weren't home. We ended up talking to the neighbor who referred us to her daughter who is a less active member who was baptized 8 years ago. The daughter had moved but was still in our area. This past week we were able to contact the less-active member and we were greeted with a large smiles from her and her family. We taught Sister Dela Cruz with her husband and son. The spirit touched them as we taught about families and how the Gospel blesses families. This is one little miracle that happened. This week we have a return appointment and I am so excited. They have the potential to be an eternal family. That is really what missionary work is about. Building eternal Families. Working with part member families are such a great way to this.

This past week was another good one. The work is starting to pick up a little. We have a lot of investigators that are so close to gaining a testimony and becoming ready to make convenants with the Lord. I am excited for these next couple of weeks and what is going to happy. This time of year is such a great one. I am excited for my first Christmas in the mission. Joy won't be baptized this week but next week she will. Her brother is so excited to have his sister join the church and will be the one to baptize Joy. They also reffered us to their father this past week which I am excited about.

Right now I wish I had more time to type. However my time is up.

I love being a missionary and I love serving the Lord. This is the Lord's work and I am so blessed to be a part of it.

mahal ko kayo

Maligayang Pasko!

ps. the picture is of the branch missionaries, Elder Casilac and I eating lunch in front of our apartment before we went out to work. I'll send you Christmas pictures next week.

Mga minamahal na Pamilya at mga kaibigan,

This past week has been a good one. My birthday and thanksgiving were both this past week but they were both just normal days of work. This past week I lots of good things happened and I learned a lot. One of the most important thing I learned was the importance of gratitude and a positive attitude. With all the changes and adjustments that have happened this last transfer I havn't always had the best attitude. I didn't always take the time to look for the positive and just be grateful. This past week I changed my attitude and it made a huge difference. It effected everything. I just feel so happy and so blessed. I am so thankful to be here in the Philippines and here in Cabanatuan. I am so thankful for the wonderful people here. The Filipino people are the nicest people in the world and if someone tells you otherwise their aren't telling to the truth. We have so many things to be thankful for and as find them and thank our Heavenly father for them you become happy. Also as we see our blessings we realized the need we have for the Lord in all that we do.

This past week we had great progress with one of our investigators named Joy. She is a young mother and is the sibling of one of our recent converts Jonathan. One of the things that has helped joy has been the Plan of Salvation. She has found peace in the knowledge that families can be together forever. That really is what the Gospel is about. Helping families return to our Father in Heaven. But back to Joy she is doing great and has a baptismal date of December 24. Even though I'm in a Tropical country I still might have a white Christmas! That's in my prayers right now. Right now one of the mottos for our mission is "Miracles will happen in December". Miracles occur everyday and they happen because of our faith. I know that by the faith we have that miracles will happen here in Angeles mission this upcoming month. As we go about setting goals right now it is a great time to test our faith and see what we can do with the help of the Lord.

This past week we also spent more time in the farthest part of our area. The area was awesome and the members there gave some great referrals. This week is going to be a great week and I am excited to see what is going to happen there in the next couple of weeks. The work here is improving. We have a lot of investigators struggling with commitments right now but they are starting to make progress and see the blessings that the Gospel brings.

This past week we also did a service project at a members house and they gave us referrals. It reminded me the importance of always serving others. Service. That's how we show our love.

As far as the pictures go. The first is a picture of me on my birthday. I made sushi and I even used the star wars lightsaber chopsticks that dad sent me from Japan. I made california rolls and we even had wasabi! I guess that is one of the advantages of being in the city is being able to buy food like that. On my birthday our branch relief society president also made us pancit which was masarap and very nice of her. Speaking of my birthday thank you so much for the package and letters. My house mates have loved the food. The alfredo sauce and chili were definatly the favorites for the Filipino Elders and Morris was a fan of the M&M's. My favorite item however was the Pillowcase. Thank you so much. The next two pictures are from earlier this morning. This past week they changed our p-day schedule so we no longer have district meeting on P-day! I am really happy about that because now we have more time on p-days and can actually do activities. This morning we went bowling.... Pinoy style! The bowling here is awesome. The balls are really small, and the pins are small to but they are spaced out more. You get 3 balls per frame and if you all 10 down in the first two balls they set them up again. It's pretty great. Definitely a good p-day.

This work is a wonderful one. I love being a missionary. Transfers are this week and I'll write you on monday to tell you what happens. I can't believe how fast this transfer went. Way to fast.

mahal ko kayo

Love Elder Leishman