Brother Acido and Nate eating balut.

Elder Shah and Nate...Eat up!

Don't look too closely.

A couple of quotes that I came by this week are awesome. Check these out:

"Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth." -President N. Eldon Tanner
"He who wants to keep his garden tidy does not reserve a place for weeds." -Dag Hammarskjold (Secretary General of the UN)

Pretty awesome, eh? (Eh intended ;D)

Also! I wanted to give a Happy Father's Day to all of the amazing Fathers in my life!

First to Dad. What a guy! I'm grateful for my Father. I have thought a lot about him this week and I know that my Dad and I were sent here together for a reason. There is a reason why he was meant to me my Father, and I was meant to be his son! I'm grateful for every good thing he's done for me, for the encouragement he has given, for the belief in me and my potential that he has reminded me of. I'm grateful for his support of my mission. It means the world to me that my Dad would support me, and he does. I love him for it!

Second to Justin, my brother in law! I love that guy! He's an example to me of being a good man! I will always remember the words that he said to Mikaila when he proposed to her! He said "I want to take care of you the rest of my life". I gained a bit more of a glimpse into what marriage was when he said that. I understood what he said to mean that he was now dedicating his life to loving another person before himself. I've reflected a lot on that sentence since I heard him say it, and I admire him for his love of my sister and their daughter. And for being a Patriot! Justin believes in his country and labors for a cause larger than himself! A great man in my life!

Third, Grandfather Jackson. Words cannot even begin to describe the impact that has been made on me by one of the wisest souls I have been privileged to know. Grandpa taught me values of hard work, understanding, empathy, and love. Many of the things that he has taught me have provided daily help on my mission. I love him so much.

There are so many other fathers in my life that have set an amazing example, and I'm grateful for them all!

Alright, now for a funny story from the week. Yesterday, we had Sunday dinner with the Acido family. The are from the Luzon island in the Philippines - I think. That's near Manila where Grandma and Grandpa served in the temple. A few days before, they had offered to feed us, and joked about feeding us Balut. Grandma and Grandpa always talked about eating it, so I told them that if they bought it and cooked it, I would eat it. We showed up to Sunday dinner and they had a plate of eggs on the table. Elder Shah started freaking out! He looked at me with wide eyes. He seriously even started to sweat:) He got sweaty palms and the whole nine yards. It was hilarious. I am always down to try something at least once, so I had been used to eating weird things already, but Elder Shah was nervous as heck! And then the moment came. We had Brother Acido walk us through how to eat the little thing, and it was crazy. You crack the top of the egg open and peel back the shell a wee bit, then poke the thing with a spoon and drink the "soup" inside. Then, you start spooning out and eating the egg. Eventually you find the baby duck, and you just stick the little beggar in your mouth and chew away. It was really weird. It was like eating a balloon filled with really soft toothpicks that tasted like a boiled egg. It was nuts. Elder Shah couldn't even look at his, he just threw it in his mouth and chewed and swallowed as fast as he could. I sent a video, so enjoy! Anyway, it was pretty good food other than that. Awesome Philippino noodles and some awesome pork rolls. It was awesome. The Acidos are really good people and are super faithful saints! Their son is serving in one of the other Philippines missions.

Anyway, I love you all so much! Thank you thank you!

-Elder Warenski