Phootsteps in the Attic

Everything is pretty good here... same old missionary life.

None of our Investigators with Baptism Dates came to church yesterday. That was kind of rough. Two of them were out of town and we don't know what happened to the others. Our ward choir performance went well yesterday (I was the pianist) haha. Choir practice was so funny. One of our choir members is quite the character. She sang so loud and proud and way out of tune. She was also like an octave higher than everyone else. There were about 8 women from the Relief Society and 6 missionaries in the choir. Also, yesterday we had branch conference and all these people from the district came to evaluate it. They asked us to attend the evaluation with them... I thought it was pretty harsh…the young women got laid into for not starting on time, no young woman conducting, not using personal progress enough, etc. I felt a little bad for them. Also, we were at the church from 12:30-7:30 yesterday. At least we were able to get some proselyting done in the morning.

 

My Sunday school lesson was fine. We had 2 investigators at church--both boys about 20 years old... one of them is actually really interested, only problem is that he has a hard time with Tagalog and neither of us know Ilocano. There is so much Ilocano here. Turns out throughout my whole mission there is at least a little bit of a language barrier. As soon as I get with a Filipina we go to a place that is mostly Ilocano. Guess I better start learning Ilocano!

My companion is from Cavite. They just speak Tagalog there. Only Northern Luzon speaks Ilocano. It’s good to be with a native Tagalog speaker though. Sometimes the missionaries from Visayas or Mindanao don't speak very good Tagalog because it's their 2nd language.

Here's a good story. Last night my companion was in the bathroom while I was updating the area book. All of a sudden, I hear so much movement upstairs. It sounds like chairs and furniture moving around and footsteps. It was so loud. My first thought is that there is a man upstairs. So I bang on the bathroom door and make my companion open the door, then she hears the noise too and we both freak out and run to the sisters next door. She then says "Oh no! The ghost is back!" She and the other sisters start telling me about how the house is haunted because someone died there a few years ago. We faced our fears and went back and checked upstairs. Then we could hear the noise again. It was coming from the ceiling of the upstairs. It sounded like people walking around. I became convinced there was someone living in our attic, but then I started to believe the ghost story. Then we started to hear it again. It happened a lot of times. Then this morning, we decided to open the attic and see for ourselves. I open the attic thing and out falls tons of.... RAT POOP! So that's that. Turns out it's not people, not a ghost, but several giant rats. That’s cool...

I can't tell you how many stories I have heard of missionary apartments being haunted. Also, we are in the Philippines and there are all sorts of believing in stuff like that and witch craft and whatnot. Also, I have heard about 100 stories of missionaries being in danger and then they look back and there are 3 American men behind them. Yes, the 3 Nephites. Haha Missionaries get carried away sometimes. But, I am telling you. I legitimately think the apartment in Baguio was haunted. I don’t think the apartment in Baguio had rats. It was haunted. How could a rat grab my leg? Or put a cell phone charger around someone’s neck in the middle of the night? I didn't believe anything about any of this until it happened to me... also; President Balledos told us it is real.

He said Satan has spirits on the earth that are part of the1/3 who rebelled and they sometimes do things. He said it's real, but when you're at home, pretend it isn't real and "don't humor it" and it will go away. I’ll do some research.

 

By the way, one of our less active members is named "Bonjovi." He also happens to love Bon Jovi the band. Have a great week!

 

 

With Brother Romero's daughter and granddaughter

 

Attending the "Western" wedding of our investigator

 

 

 

Pharewell to Baguio

Guess where I am? Agoo [pronounced A-go-oh].

I really like my companion…Sister Glori, from Cavite. That’s right, first Filipina companion in a long time. She’s really funny and talented and awesome. I’m pretty sure I’ve learned as much Tagalog in the past 4 days as I did all of last transfer... she doesn't really speak English so we speak straight Tagalog. There are 7 girls in her family…no boys. She is 30 years old and she spent the last two years working abroad in a factory in Japan to support her family. She just finished her training. She was trained in Agoo. So I’m her follow-up trainer. I am assigned in Agoo branch 1. It is very very different from Baguio. I’ve been having some minor culture shock.

We went roller skating last p-day in Baguio. It was awesome! Most fun 30 minute I’ve had in a long time. I was skating along very confidently, and then I biffed it. I tore the knee of my jeans and scraped my knee. haha, people keep asking me what happened to it... embarrassing. I had a great few last days in Baguio. It was really sad saying goodbye to everyone. Here’s another shocking thing. When I got to Pacdal ward [Baguio], we probably had 2 lessons a day. When I left it, we probably had 5 or 6 lessons a day. On Friday, we had 10 lessons in Agoo! So weird! People are very nice here and they just let us teach them. It’s hard though because a lot of them don't have money to get to church.

I actually just got back from Baguio. We can go to Baguio if we get permission. My companion wanted to come to Baguio and buy some things. It takes 1.5 hrs to go up to Baguio and 45 minutes to go down.  I just got off the bus.

My branch seems good. I’ve already been snatched up to be the pianist, and I have to pick the song for the choir to sing next week at ward conference and help them practice it and accompany them, and I’m teaching Sunday school next week. The members seem really nice. They have attendance of about 90. There are 6 missionaries…2 sets of sisters and 1 set of elders. We have 4 investigators with baptismal dates from 2 part member families.

It’s only my companion and me in our apartment. But next to us in the other apartment there are 4 sisters, including Sister Smith. So we can go over there whenever we want, so that's nice. It’s also the perfect set up though because there are only 2 to a bathroom. This morning we woke up and jogged to the market. Some more culture shock! Every single part of the pig... snout, all kinds of organs, ears... and even dog is available at the market! Dogs just hanging upside down by their feet! I was pretty surprised. Agoo is beautiful though…lots of rice fields. Agoo is a very cute town…not even a McDonalds. You know some of those tiny towns we drive through to go to Island Park? It’s maybe a little bigger than one of those. I think it's very charming though. I really love the area.

Also, it is sooo hot in Agoo! I got really used to the nice weather up in Baguio. Baguio is just a smaller slightly grosser version of America... Agoo is like real deal Philippines.

It was so good to ride on a trike again and to see a rice field and caribou. I’m very happy here. So far it's great. Also, good thing I got transferred out of my last apartment! Weird stuff was starting to happen. I’m usually very skeptical of things like this, but there was definitely some sort of ghost or something from Satan in that apartment. Scary! Luckily I’m not there anymore haha.

I am close to the ocean, but it's the other sisters’ area. Too bad! We have a shower head and stuff. Just imagine the powder room. Now stick a drain in the floor and a shower head on the wall and that's the bathroom haha. I spent the morning cleaning lizard poop off the walls. The water smells AWFUL here. I come out of the shower and feel dirtier then when I got in. It’s ok though. Still happy!

On the way to transfer meeting, we were happy because the Baguio jeepney broke down. So the la Trinidad jeep picked us up and all three of us (Dial, Ackerman and Mortell) rode down together. I also got to see Kasan and Brother Romero in San Fernando. That was very happy. Brother Romero is extremely active and works with the elders almost every day. He’s awesome. It was very happy.

We very rarely got referrals. But lessons are very effective if members are present. They are easier to identify with the people and whatnot. Also fellowshipping investigators at chuch is very important.

I'm out of time! Love you! Have a great week!

[Here’s a cute video of Sister Glori [Allyson's new companion] opening her mission call. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXyqj4LQSQg]
 

 

 

Phinal week in Baguio?

Sister Tune and I had a great week. We had 5 people at church again yesterday.

There is a 14 year-old girl who has been coming to church and seminary with her friends. She has a few friends in Pacdal ward. She actually lives in la Trinidad though. We taught her last week. Right when we started talking to her, she informed us that she has already received permission from her mother to be baptized "in the true church of Jesus Christ." I asked her how she knows the church is true and she told us that whenever she reads the Book of Mormon or attends church or seminary she feels really good so she knows it is true. She’s awesome. It’s kind of hard to baptize a special case though. We talked to president and he says he will have to think about it because she doesn't have a support system…only teenagers in a different ward. So the missionaries in la Trinidad now have to start to teach her mom. Hopefully she will listen. I think that is awesome though that her friends invited her to church and were a good example. She's the first person I've ever met that wanted to be baptized before we even taught her.

One of the members is always telling the full-time missionaries that he doesn’t have time to do missionary work because he is too busy "in another part of the Lord's vineyard." He claims real missionary work isn't that important because family history work trumps it. We just rolled our eyes and laughed.

We met this lady yesterday while waiting for the jeepney. She started talking to me and asking me about how many churches are in Baguio and if I went to the MTC in Provo or what. I asked her if she was a member and she said yes and that she lives in New York but she is here to pick up her friend’s daughter who is on a mission in Pangasinan. Then she informed me that she was a lawyer and she keeps very close tabs on the news. According to her, they have done away with border regulations in Arizona and Texas. I was a little confused, but she was saying something about how only children are allowed to pass through the borders. Apparently, the U.S. is going to make slaves out of Mexican children. I then told her that I don't think that's true. Haha. I forgot for a second that it's against the rules for missionaries to participate in political conversations... then she keeps telling me all this stuff. There was a lot more but I forgot it. Then the jeepney comes and we get on. It’s full of people. Sister Tune and I are sitting in very back; she is sitting in front passenger side. She then writes her email on a paper and has the people on the jeepney pass it back to me. She yells to me to email her when I get home so I can tell her that she's right. haha. Everyone on the jeepney was just staring at us. Also, I can't even read her handwriting because it's impossible to write anything legible on a moving jeepney!

We found a wonderful lady when we were tracting a couple weeks ago. She has really been searching for the truth. She just moved back to Baguio because she had a surgery and she has been looking for the right church to attend. She felt really good about our message and last week she accepted a baptismal date. She could really feel the spirit in our lessons. We taught her on Saturday and she told us that now she was very confused because Jehovah’s witnesses came to her house and taught her earlier that morning. She told us she didn't know what to do. She said she felt like she was lost. We had a great lesson, focused on Moroni 10:4-5 and how she can know the truth. At the end, she said a very sincere heartfelt prayer. She literally started to cry just asking God what she should do. The next day she came to church and I think she had a great experience. She is in her 50s and lives with her daughter and grandchildren and her husband. We haven't been able to teach them yet but will hopefully be able to teach them. They are nice, but they always run away when we come.

People running away is the story of my life. Filipinos are the nicest people ever... it can be kind of bad sometimes. Instead of just telling us they are not interested, they keep acting like they are but then we can see them hiding in their house. haha. I don't know who the missionaries are that will teach her. We're most likely all going to be transferred down to the lowlands on Thursday though. I've been saying my goodbyes to people and it's very sad! I love this area.

Everyone in Baguio calls everywhere that is not Baguio or la Trinidad or some of the other random places up here "the lowlands." I thought it was really dumb when I first heard it, like we were in Lion King or something. Six months is the maximum someone can be in an area and President Balledos asked me if I was ready to go down to the lowlands in my interview.

I just love Baguio. Not too excited to leave. Oh well. I’ve been looking for things to look forward to... they are: no stairs/hills, transportation is 10x cheaper, probably more lessons, maybe I'll be close to the ocean. Where will I be transferred? My first prediction is Agoo. My next prediction is Bauang. The places where white sisters can go are kind of limited. There are parts of our mission that are just a big mess and only Filipino elders can go there because of people getting killed in political elections and stuff. One of the Elders from my MTC group almost got shot when he was in Candon... just lots of murders and robbery and whatnot.

Did I tell you about when we met JW missionaries on the street a couple weeks ago? They ran up to us and tried to trick us and stuff. It didn't work. We felt really bad talking to them though…very bad feeling.

Someone gave Sister J an Iglesia Ni Cristo magazine the other day. I read that. It is straight up propaganda. We discovered that there is a congregation in Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, and Anaheim. Looks like I'm going to have to drop in one of those when I get home to see what they do. Freaky stuff from the sounds of it!

Here’s a quick cultural difference. Yesterday we were teaching this couple. After the lesson they gave us a snack (very typical here) and we were talking to them. The wife starts to tell us about how her periods last for 10 days and the flow is heavy for the first 4 days apparently. This is all in front of her husband. Then she asks us how many days our periods are and how the flow is. I was just trying not to laugh. Then once that conversation is over she asked us how much we pay monthly for our apartment. Surprisingly, both of these things are quite common topics of conversation here as well as how much money you make.

I think a lot of people have forgotten about me. Once missionaries have been gone for a while people forget about you. Just a fact... I'm not sad about it or anything. That’s just the way it is. On that note, my time is up. Have a great week!

 

Eating Balut for the 2nd time! 

 

Salsa, Guacamole, Chips and Coke......much better!

I've been on my mission Thirteen Phast Sundays....Crazy!

I can't believe I’ve been here for a year. On my one year mark, we had zone interviews with the mission president. I got my letter that has information so they can book my flight for home. Crazy! I still have 1/3 of my mission left.

On July 31, I looked down at my favorite shoes [crocs] and realized that I had worn a hole completely through the sole. They're the best. Don’t worry though, there are these people that go around and fix shoes, so I had a guy sew some new soles onto mine.

Here’s an interesting story. On Saturday we were walking down the street and this guy comes out of this gross bar (he wasn't drunk though) and starts to ask if we're Mormons. We’re in a kind of sketchy part of town... we start to talk to him and tell him about the church. I notice that he is dressed extremely well... fancy shoes, nice jeans, nice jacket, a fedora, a diamond ring, and a diamond bracelet. We ask him his name and he just says something super quickly. He told us he was an attorney but he refused to tell us his real name. He also spoke to us in flawless English...very impressive. Then he starts saying "I have to talk to you right now. I need direction in my life. I’m so sad all the time. I have everything, but at the same time I have nothing." then he just snaps his fingers and all of these guys from the bar come to him and start saying "yes, sir. What is it?" they're like his servants! They were just there to do his bidding.  He tells them that he's leaving. Then he tries to make us get in his car, but we told him we couldn’t do that... so he says we will go to a restaurant and he will buy us dinner so we can talk to him. Since we couldn't ride in his car, the only place within walking distance was this crappy pizza place. We walk in and he just snaps his fingers at the pizza people and tells them to get us the very biggest pizza. They just all immediately start calling him sir and doing whatever he wants. We talked to him for like 45 minutes. He had a ton of deep questions about our purpose in life and stuff. We read several scriptures with him from the Book of Mormon. He refused to take a copy of the Book of Mormon though. When he opened his wallet to pay for the pizza I saw just a ton of 1,000 peso bills... he also gave the pizza guy a huge tip (and no one ever gives tips in the Philippines). He gave us his phone number, but refused to tell us his name, or where he lives. I don’t know what to think. We will be careful. I think we might just teach him at public places. He really likes us though. He just bosses everyone around but treats us with great respect.

Our investigators are doing ok. Something miraculous happened. One of our less active members came to church. One of our other investigators  wants to be baptized, hasn't come to church, and the only contact we've had with him this week was when we ran into him on the street and he was really drunk. So sad! The others are doing ok. Sister M is continuing to progress. We found this family last week that seems really promising. They didn't come to church though. We also got two referrals on Sunday, which literally never happens. I’ve only had 3 legit referrals since being in this area. One is a 13 year -old girl that apparently has been coming to church with her friend for a while and she wants to be baptized. I don't know if president will let her though because she's underage and her only support system is another 13 year-old. Hopefully though! Someone came to church yesterday with a member who is their neighbor. We are going to teach her later today.

We taught this less active last week. He’s the really old guy that gave us a bunch of anti-Mormon stuff that one time. He started to tell us some things he's been learning from the Baguio Bible College. He informed us that it has now been revealed that on Noah’s ark, all of the animals reproduced very rapidly. Cats reproduced the most. So many cats were born that the ship sank. We asked him how on earth he knows that and he pulled out that scripture in John that says how there are other words or whatever that aren't in this book. So based on that scripture apparently you can make up anything and then say it happened. We tried to explain that that scripture is talking about the Book of Mormon but he wouldn't listen.

It's been raining like crazy. I’m never dry. My hair is ok…not getting worse. My skin is getting better.

I saw many gross things this week. I’ll share one thing.  Dogs here eat plastic when they don't have food so I see a lot of multi colored dog poop because they eat colorful plastic bags... that's pretty gross and very sad.

My testimony was strengthened this week through a talk called "The fourth missionary.” It was a great talk. Also, my testimony continues to be strengthened as I study about the restoration including the apostasy and all that jazz. Also I read the chapters about the Atonement in Jesus the Christ yesterday. We have been trying to focus on teaching by the spirit and teaching according to needs. Last night we were supposed to teach one of our families about tithing but when we got there we felt like we should change it. We shared 3 Nephi 13:31-33 and talked about seeking the kingdom of God first. They were very touched and realized that God hadn't been their priority.

It's time for me to go! Have a wonderful week! I love you all very much. Thanks for your example to me.

 

We went to Mineview. There's an awesome view and then you can dress up in these Igorot costumes. Don't you think I look awesome! They tried to just give me this dumb little flower thing to hold. I said, "Excuse me, but could I please have the spear and shield?" Much better!