Hey from The Manila MTC things are beautiful here. I am very limited on when I can take pictures right now so I'll send them as I can. I can tell you, you can see the pictures of the amazing Manila MTC online though at LDS.org
(Google Drive is blocked in the Manila MTC so he can't add pictures to the drive until he is out of there. So we should get some pictures once he is out of the MTC and serving in the field. Picture at the bottom provided by Elder Britton Hemmert. He is our friends son who flew to and entered the MTC the same day as Ethan. He is also serving in the Philippines but in a different mission.)
Hello everyone!
So I am now in the Philippians MTC. That means new -PDay, also means I am almost a full day ahead of you. Yesterday I arrived at the Philippians air port we went through immigration got our bags and just walked out of the airport there was literal no customs at all. We met some representatives from the church who helped us fill out an application for an extended visa then met the MTC president. We then jumped on some buses and were taken to the MTC. The rest of the day was pretty similar to the first day at the Provo MTC, with an introduction an everything. If you think traffic is bad in the states, here "no traffic" is just about as bad as rush hour in Portland, but add motorcycles dodging between cars and everything else. The weather here is amazing yesterday it was warm we had some rain, but it still was warm, then was almost immediately went back to sunny. It is very humid but I actually really like It.
Yesterday on the plane ride I had several experiences that reminded me that the Lord knows me and knows my need. The elders and sisters going to Baguio mission left from the travel office and went to the airport. We were at the airport about 2 to 2 and a half hours before we started boarding. I and about half of the other Baguio missionaries ended up having issues with our tickets that meant we needed to go through a longer check in process. I was blessed to be there early enough that I was able to make it through everything with plenty of time to spare. This showed the fact that the Lord knew me, because if you know me I tend to stress when things aren't going as they should, and how I was told they would. Especially if it involves something new and unknown to me like traveling internationally. But because I was there early enough, I had plenty of time and my stress was far decreased. Then another time I saw the Lords hand in the travel is on the flight to LAX from Provo I was first sat behind a returned missionary who had served in Manila speaking Tagalog and he was more than willing to answer our questions about the language and the culture of the Philippines. Also one of the flight attendants on the Delta flight to LAX was a Filipino from Manila. He was wearing a Philippines flag pin on his vest. He was very willing and exited to answer questions about anything we asked him. This very much calmed me because it showed me that although I still had a lot to learn I knew more than I thought I did. Then when I got to LAX we had a 7 hour layover. Yet again this I know without a doubt the Lord had his hand in my life because with all the craziness of working with a different airline working international flights trying to call home, me and my district ended up going through TSA 6 times. With out this 7 hour lay over I probably would have just about blown my top. Then one of the other flights from Provo to LAX ended up getting delayed. The people on that flight literally got there as everyone was lining up to get on the bus that would take us to the plane. The only reason they made it was because our flight from LAX was delayed departure, because the Manila airport had a scheduled closing time.
This week i leave you with a verse from Moroni 10; 45
32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
I would encourage you to do what this verse says
Elder Davis
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