At the end of Tiegue’s email, he mentions people could ask questions to him on his blog. If anyone does this I can copy into my weekly email and will post his response in the following blog. He mentioned when we skyped that Sundays are very busy for him now that he is a DL (District Leader) but he’s enjoying the responsibility.

This week’s highlight was defiantly Christmas and New Years. For both of the holidays we had a curfew at 6 pm because after that things can get a little wild. Because our curfew was so early, I asked if we could bus up to the other Elders apartment and have a sleepover.  I'll take every chance to hang out with other elders because I've been in a single companionship house for this whole mission, even if it means sleeping on a tile floor with a sheet wrapped around me (we pushed their 2 mattresses together for New Years cuz that floor is cold and hard). Living literally 24/7 with someone completely different than you can be tiring, and trying.

For Christmas we had a Balut party, 6 Elders and 25 Boiled duck eggs, apparently they are super high in cholesterol so you shouldn’t eat more than 4, or eat them too regularly. Elder Dosdos ate 9.... that’s just too many duck fetuses if you ask me. (I can’t wait to find out where to buy Balut in Portland, or make it, for my family and friends to try. It’s actually good.) Also it’s tradition that members bring food to the house of the elders on Christmas Eve. I don’t know if it was lucky, or sad that the members in my area forgot to bring food to us, it’s good though because we weren’t there.

For New Years Eve (in the other elders house again) we tried really hard to resist buying fireworks since they’re not allowed for missionaries. If normally we'd spend 100 USD in America, that’s about 5000 Pesos, enough to buy a whole stand of mortars, bottle rockets, flash grenades, and huge firecrackers. Luckily the neighbors bought their own. New Years here means noise, plain and simple. Whether it means fireworks, horns, clapping, revving your motorcycle, or dragging sheets of tin roofing behind your trike, they'll find a way to make noise. I'm looking forward to making American versions of these pinoy (philippino) traditions. 

I'm getting really bad about emailing because I don’t have time on Sundays to plan what I wanna say. I'll try to be better about it next week. If you have questions that helps, I'll answer anything (mostly). Maybe if there is a way for them to ask on the blog they could ask. Depends on you :)

Love ya,

Hope your Christmas was bangin, and your New Years funtastic

Elder Hennessey

Tiegue forwarded these pictures from Elder Keliiokalani. Thought we would enjoy!