Hello!!!!!!  So, I'm in the Philippines. Crazy! The past few days I have basically had no idea what's going on. Haha. So, we flew to Hong Kong... the flight was a breeze. I probably slept for 12 hours. We got some McDonalds for breakfast and then got on our flight to Manila! When we got to Manila, we finally found the person that was waiting for us after we went through customs and all that. Anyway, we found the guy in Manila and then we took a van to the bus station. We were all just staring out the window. It was so shocking. There were people everywhere, everything was so loud, we saw a dead dog laying on a table, and tons and tons of slums. We all felt extremely humbled after only being there for 2 minutes. So then we had to figure out how to get the bus to San Fernando. Luckily Sister Ackerman's Tagalog is fantastic. I used a bathroom for the first time in the Philippines. Good thing I had my little toilet paper roll with me! The toilets flushed, but the stalls were so short that if you stood up you could see into the other stall, haha. So, we were not prepared for how terrible the bus ride would be. So so long. It took 8 hours. And it’s not 8 hours of smooth sailing on the freeway... It's go 90 mph, slow down, dodge some children, dodge a cow, etc. There was also movie after movie blasting in our faces.... but we had to do our best to ignore it since we're missionaries. So the ride was a little rough, but it was really cool to look at the window and see everything. It helped me get a little more used to the Philippines.

We got to San Fernando at 8:30 at night and then we met the mission president and had dinner. This very sweet member had a big meal for us. Guess what? Her son is on a mission in Idaho Falls right now. I told her my grandparents live there and she asked for their addresses, so a Filipino elder and his companion might show up at Gr. Tell's or Papa and Ronda's house. It's crazy how small the world can be!

So Thursday and Friday we stayed with the sister training leaders. We had some activities-- we had a little scavenger hunt thing where we had to take jeepneys to different places. We learned how to wash our clothes, go to the market, and cook some Filipino food. It was really fun! We went to the mission home and it was beautiful!

Friday morning I got my new companion. Her name is Sister La Torre and she is from the Philippines (Bicol). She is basically fluent in English, which is very useful! She has been on her mission for 5 months. This is her third transfer and I am her second trainee. It's normal here to be a trainer right after you get done being trained. Hope that doesn't happen to me! She is very sweet and I like her a lot.

So, we're opening our area. Apparently our area used to be part of another area, but it was so far away that no one bothered to go to it. So there is one strong member family in our district, one pretty active family, and a handful of less-actives. We really struggled to find these people. Our area book was totally empty.

Apparently there is something wrong with the water in our apartment so we're living with the sister training leaders right now. It's nice because their apartment is nice-- there's even a shower (but no hot water) and a washing machine! It's inconvenient though because it's pretty far from our area. We're moving either tomorrow or Wednesday. We don't know. Everyone has a different version of what's happening.

I met the Dinkels! She gave me a big hug when I got there! They are very nice. There's another office couple and she gave us the name of her blog so you could look at it, haha. I think it is myronandfaylenesmission.blogspot.com.

I just can't even believe how different the Philippines is from anywhere I've ever been. Probably the closest thing I have to compare it to is Adventure Land at Disneyland, haha. On Saturday, we were trying to track down this less active member. We were in a super sketchy area...Tiny little alleys with people doing their laundry just staring at you (especially me because I'm a giant American). We had to climb over like a million roosters and cats and trash and whatnot. Then we finally found this man's house and he didn't answer and then his neighbor came out. He was super big and grungy with a big beard and was only wearing basketball shorts. He said he would go see if he could find the man and when he turned around he had a gun in his shorts! I nudged my companion then we started to be a little scared... Luckily he couldn't find the guy so we high tailed it out of there! The next day we saw that man tinkling in a bush, haha.

On Saturday, we were trying to visit the member family but they weren't there so we taught their neighbors. It was an 84 year old woman and her 13 and 15 year old granddaughters. They were really interested which was really cool!

Every day I just keep seeing more and more things that are so crazy! Ah! I'm running out of time on the computer. Yesterday, I trudged through water mid-calf through the jungle to teach a family under a little tin roof, I ate a whole fried fish (everything but the bones and fins), and hiked through rice fields in a rain storm in the dark.

There are a million more things I wanted to tell you but there's no time! Thank you so much! Love you all! Thanks for the scripture dad--I actually read it this morning and thought "what a good scripture!"

[It's 2 Nephi 31:19-20 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.]

Love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Mortell

 

 

This picture and the two that follow are from Brad and Valarie's blog.  Sisters Dial, Ackerman and Mortell from the MTC in Provo.   Brad and Valarie Dinkel are missionaries and do a great blog.  See this link http://bradvalarie.blogspot.com/

 

This photo also includes the four new sisters that came from the Manilla missionary training center.  Sister Dinkel is on the right.



 

All the new missionaries arriving in the Baguio mission, September, 2013.  Seven from the MTC in Provo, the rest from the Manilla MTC.