hey everyone!! how are you all! how was conference?? I don't get to watch it until next week because of the time change but I'm so looking forward to it! I wish I kinda got to watch it live cause I feel behind the ties now although I'm living in the future but its kinda weird! I hope you all enjoyed and ill make sure to take good notes and then report next week.  I only have three more conferences and I'm home. Weird though that I'm about three weeks off from my six month mark. time goes by pretty fast. And Natalie is home in like 5 months. crazy! But family I'm doing good right now.  This week was pretty good. we have a investigator with a baptismal date and maybe another this next week. ill talk about that more later on in the letter but I almost was going to die this week! I had Kidney stones! So crazy story!  

Haha. So earlier this week I thought I had UTI cause when I went to the bathroom I thought I had the burning feeling then on top of that i always had the need to go but couldn't or just dribbled a little.  so I started taking some ibuprofen and loading up on water but I still had the feeling. then about on Thursday after noon I had some pain in the lower back on the right side but only for a few minutes so I didn't think anything of it. Then Friday it was the same thing and just a little worse burning when peeing. But I slept through it and woke up on Saturday feeling fine. Then around 430 that afternoon I started getting excruciating pain in my back and it just killed. I called the mission nurse and she just said take more ibuprofen and drink a lot more water and hopefully that can take some pain away in the back.  But the pain didn't cease at all. It just keep moving around the lower back and finally worked its way to the front right in the abdominal area.  And that's when it just took off.  By that time it was about 630 and we were in the middle of a lesson and I was just breathing hard without breath just sweating and trying not to disrupt the lesson. Luckily the people have no electricity so they couldn't see my face but I'm sure I was just in pain.  After that lesson I seriously was just moaning and semi yelling (kinda like tennis groans and moans.. haha!) walking back into town were we could take a 10 min motor back to our apartment. on the way back on the motor I had to pull over cause I had to throw up and even that didn't help the pain. So I got back on the motor and got back to the apartment threw up two more times.  I called the mission nurse again and they told me they were going to drive two hours to pick me up and get me to the Emergency room cause they knew I had kidneys. She is a Nurse and her husband is a retired Pharmacist so they knew the symptoms.  Finally around 1030 still in pain they picked me up and hopped in the truck and we all went into Sagay to the Emergency room.  They loaded me up on some pain medicine and gave me some anti inflammatory pills for the burning when peeing and told me to drink lots and lots of water. That night and on Sunday we stayed in Sagay at another missionary apartment and camped out there and are still here in Sagay but are returning home today to Minapasok.  The doctor told me if I still had pain on Monday to come back and they'd run an ultra sound to see if I had a stone in there stuck but I'm pretty sure it's passed now.  I don't have any pain and so that's good! I'm going to stay on ibuprofen and water for the next few days but that's my story! Kinda crazy! I'm way tired now though. I think my body is just kinda in a hangover shock stage but I should be good! 

So that's that! oh and also we went out to church in Sagay and I was talking to the members and pretty much understood everything they said to me except a few words and I've decided its just the language they speak in my area is a lot harsher sounding and 80% Cebuano. I think I'll be good with the language but I just gotta keep working harder! haha! 

This week was pretty good though. We have been working with our investigators and we have a new investigator with a baptismal date. Her name is Sis. Lovely. Her husband is a less active and from Manilla and so we stopped by her house and she was there so we just committed her to baptism which she said yes to. hopefully we can progress with her and really get her committed! 

Our other investigators are doing good.

We are dropping Bro Simeon. all he does is debate and ask ridiculous questions like how many spirits we have in our body or where peter the apostle is right now.  haha. 

Bro Jomare. He's doing good. He's very interested in our message but for some reason whenever we teach him there is always a distraction for him. Like I mentioned last week a lady came in and just started debating then this week they had some visitors over that he didn't even know and then in the middle of the lesson they just interrupted us and were trying to get him to stop the lesson so they could get a ride home on his motor so we had to end the lesson short.  

Besides that's about it here in the mission life. I think I'm doing good.  haha I don't really know how to grade myself cause I try to help these people but they don't have any desire to change or progress. its just a hard area. I'm just glad I'm here for my first area cause things can only get better from here.  but I try hard and don't let them get me down! Sorry I don't have any pictures this week. I forgot to grab my plug for transporting pictures cause I was in too much pain to think.  But everything is good. doing good and looking forward to this week! 

Know that I love you and miss you all!  See you in like 580 give or take a few!  haha. something like that! 

Love you all! 

Elder Sargent!