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•Transfers ugma sa buntag!‏ 6/05/2013

So Elder Ursenbach will be my 9th companion (including the mtc) and my6th non-Filipino companion(Elder Seumanutafa isn't American)  but it's 8th comp and 5th English speaking if you're just talking about the field, and my 4th area - Tolido, Cebu, Philippines!

Kamusta tanan!

I'm super excited - I'm finally getting along super well with Elder Gallero, one of the other missionaries in our apartment!  It's taken unceasing effort but here at the end of the transfer, it's finally happening!  We're joking around like best friends (he never used to laugh or joke with me) and this morning he even gave me a hug!  I think I might've finally learned those people skills that the Mission President talked about with me in the zone interviews! 

Then in Zone Training we got some new rules from the area Presidency: no missionary handshakes, no spiked hairdos (fauhawks), no backpacks, no ripped/dirty clothing, no carabau (water buffalo looking animal with horns that’re used in stuff such as) belts – all just to  help us be more professional so we can be more easily recognized as representatives of the Lord and his church.

It was a crazy day for transfer calls - so many missionaries transferring!  I'm looking forward to serving with Elder Ursenbach for the end of his mission.  He's from Idaho, super close to where Elder Benjamin's from - they were super good friends before the mission, and now I get to be super good friends with both of them! :)  I’ll be serving in Toledo 2 area – I’ll get to be in the same apartment as the Zone Leaders, Elder Deschepper and Elder Parkinson!  I’m super stoked because I’ve met all the others in that apartment and it’s gonna be super awesome!  For those who don’t know, Elder Deschepper was my companion over in Naga J    anyways, these transfers mean that I’m going to be in Cebu Mission still, so no changes in address or anything.

Meanwhile, my trainer is going to be transferred here to follow-up the training of my anak Elder Benjamin!  he gets to be with his lolo in the mission!  It's weird to think that I'll be in a completely different mission than them.   

So our area continues to grow - in that one far away area with the group sacrament meeting, we had over 60 people in attendance! and there's even more since Sunday that've promised to come next week!  I'm super stoked for that part of our area.  It's just hard for the missionaries here because it is expensive.  and then there's areas near the church that we haven't even visited yet because we have so much to do up there and down here and partway in between and so it'd be super helpful to have another set of missionaries in danao 2 - if not assigned up there, then just another pair so that all the missionary work here can get done - it's way too much for one companionship, and too expensive to pay for splits, and so it's a hard spot to be in. 

But anyways, I need to start packing for transfers and washing clothes by hand, g2g!  love you all!

Gugma si Elder Dallin Carlson1-2