Homestretch.

Dear Mom,

It was great to talk to you on Sunday, even though it was very late at night for you. Talking about the Philippines and your arrival here next month was way too exciting. You are finally going to be able to come home.


And that's great that you were able to support Daniel at his farewell this week. I'm sure he did great and I'm glad you enjoyed his talk. Thank you so much for going to support him. I know he will be such a great missionary in Germany. It's crazy to think that when he finally gets there, I'll almost be home.


Rainy season, to my observation, has definitely begun. It has rained everyday and has cooled off a lot in the past week. Thank goodness. It's definitely helped with my allergies to the green here that's for sure. It's also somehow awakened new animals and lots and lots of frogs. It's good to not have to have to put ice in my water to take showers now and be able to sleep at night.


The week is kind of a blur - it went by so fast that I don't remember much. Last Wednesday, Kuya Marcie came out to visit to see how I was doing since he was right by my area last week at the Manila Youth Conference. We were able to catch up and encourage one another in our separate doings. It was a good uplifting.

Random but today on our way back from Malolos from district meeting, a tire in our jeepney blew out. It was really scary. It was so loud that I thought we got shot or something.

Mother's day was great. The ward put together a program for the Mother's and each and every single one of the youth and primary children got to have a chance to go to the pulpit and tell their mothers how much they appreciated them. I don't think there was one person who didn't cry that hour. It was so great to see youth and children appreciate their mothers. Seeing so many broken families today and the rebellious youth of our time, it's great to see teenagers and children love and appreciate their parents - against the standard of the outer world and their friends. My companion and I were also made surprise speakers which, for me, made it the fourth time I've spoken on Mother's Day in a row, starting four years ago on Mat's farewell. I also failed as the ward pianist - let me tell you about that funny story real quick.

For the song the primary put together, they asked me to accompany them on the piano... since no one else knows how to play haha. So I started the song and apparently it was so slow that the children didn't recognize it, so they didn't start singing until the last verse when I sped it up. At the end of the last verse, I made a very obvious, movie-theater ending on the piano, and then... looked up and noticed that the kids were still singing! So I tried to catch up with them and made another great ending and looked up after... and they were STILL singing! So I played one more verse and finally they stopped. I also played the wrong closing hymn so they had to stop me and clarify the actual closing him - talk about failure!

And now, it's transfers again.


Transfer announcement is that I will be finishing my mission in Plaridel, Bulacan.


Now that homestretch has begun and I'm in my final transfer, my mind has been spinning nearly every hour of everyday thinking about way too much - mostly a string of nostalgic questions. 


Did I do my best? Could I have done better? What would have happened if I did just a little better? Did I do good enough? Have I changed? The list of what-could-have-been-wonders seems to be endless.


I've thought about high school competition in sports and measuring success. True, healthy competition, as my band director taught me, is where you measure yourself against yourself, beating yourself just a little bit and a little more everyday. It's very difficult to see how much you have progressed, and completely changing your nature is something, I've had to swallow, that doesn't happen in a short two years. It's hard to see how far you've come when you life with yourself everyday, but keeping in mind who you are and what your abilities are, and stretching as much as you can, just past what you did the day before, is what the focus should be on. 


Constant. Constant change is all that you can ask for when living in the present. Looking back then after long periods of time, we'll be able to see what actual change has really occurred. It took me awhile to be content with this, but something that's really helped today is a quote that Elder Calder shared with me who is going home this week, that talks about how Jesus Christ's sacrifice wasn't to just help bad men become good - it's for continual change everyday to help good men become better. It's about constant, continual application of the Atonement of Jesus Christ that truly helps us to turn away from human nature and become what heaven sees in us. So here we go again, for one last time. It's not over just yet. 


Love,
Elder Corpuz

This is how they get water in the province in some places. You take the bucket and stick it down where the tire is and it's your own little modern day well!

Malolos Zone.

Me and Sister Nunez.

Me and Elder Anderson.