Pheeling much better!

This week was good. We got a lot of work done and hopefully made some progress with some of our investigators. On Wednesday, I got really sick…fever, stomach problems, body aches, etc... We went out to work in the morning and I almost died. It was awful. Then I went home and laid on my bed for the entire day. It was absolutely horrible. If I even slightly elevated my head, I felt like I was going to throw up. Then the next day I was kind of better, although I still had stomach issues a lot and felt pretty bad. But we went and worked and that's how Thursday and Friday were. Then I still had stomach problems on Saturday, and people started to tell me that I had amoebiasis. They’re all like "Yes! Those are the symptoms." So to be safe, I went to the hospital. Things you should never ever do-- go to a hospital in a 3rd world country. It was disgusting and terrifying. Private hospitals here aren't that bad, but in Agoo there are only public ones... the chairs in the "waiting room" were like seats taken out of a minivan. It was probably one of the worst experiences of my mission... I had to give a stool test. Awful! And the women’s restroom was broken so I had to go in the men’s and the urinals reeked and no soap, no toilet paper, and had to flush it with a bucket. It was super dirty. Then they analyzed everything and discovered... good news! I don't have any parasites! Hooray! That was a big relief. They don't know what the cause was, but they gave me some medicine to stop it and it's gone now. I’m totally fine right now. But it's probably good we went there because they discovered I was dehydrated so I had to drink all this nasty stuff to get me hydrated again. They wanted to admit me, but I wasn't about to let that happen haha. But I’m hydrated now and I don't have parasites so life is great!

Don’t worry mom, I’m being safe and healthy. I am very diligent about my vitamins.

[Editor’s Note: We were emailing back and forth with Allyson and after we read about her illness, this was what Tom wrote to her: “I just forgot about this until now. When I was saying my prayers one morning early this week, (I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday) I had this distinct impression that you were struggling with something that was very difficult. I didn't know what it was, but I knew you were going through something difficult. I prayed fervently that the Lord would help you through it. I felt a sense of peace and then forgot all about it.

Now that I think about it, I'm glad The Lord gave me the chance to exercise some extra faith on your behalf.” Allyson responded with: “Dad, that's a really cool experience. Thanks for your prayers and faith! Turns out I'm ok now. I'm glad Heavenly Father let you exercise your faith for me.”]

Our investigators are doing ok. Missionary work…same old same old. Two of our investigators with baptismal dates have all sorts of concerns. They are just a mess, but they have really strong testimonies and really want to be baptized so we are working on that. The H family is doing great. We have another investigator that is really progressing. He’s been to church 3 times now and is doing well. He is only 20, but we got permission from president to extend a baptismal date. We’ll do that this week. It’s a little hard though, because he struggles in Tagalog. But luckily he understands Tagalog really well; he's just a little slow at speaking it. So we're going to bring an Ilocano speaker with us next time.

We also got this awesome new investigator yesterday. Earlier this week, Sister Glori and I were taking a picture in a rice field. It was very pretty there. Then we both slipped off the little path thing into the rice field. That was embarrassing. So our feet and legs were really muddy. So we went and knocked on this door and asked if we could use their water pump. The girl there was very nice and we washed our feet and she said we could come back and teach her. We taught her yesterday. She is only like 17 though, so that's a problem, but she lives there and helps her older sister who is deaf. They do sign language. Her dad lives there too and her mom is working abroad. When we got there she told us that she was confused because she is being taught by Jehovah’s Witness and she doesn't know what to do or what the truth is. She really liked our message though. We had a great powerful lesson with her and I am excited to teach her again!

I’m missing Baguio just a little bit right now... last week I tried to look for some jam to buy. I couldn't find any. Guess I’ll be saying bye to jam, honey, mustard, my favorite hot sauce, and basically every food that isn't Filipino. Welcome to Agoo.

We have a zone conference in Baguio and Sister Smith and I are trying to figure out how to sneak away to the grocery store and get everything. haha.

There are so many missionaries here. In Baguio, probably about 5 times a week we would see missionaries from either Jehovah Witness, Iglesia, or Baptist. We just awkwardly greet each other, "Good afternoon."

You're the best. My time is up. I love you all very much. Hope you have a great week. Thanks for everything.

 

Last P-day in Baguio. [Thanks for the Pictures, Sister Jackson]

 

 

 



 

 

 

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!

Phix your hair!

Things are pretty good here. Can't believe I've been on my mission for a year. That's crazy! It feels like I was just barely laying out all my clothes on the ping pong table getting them ready to pack. I’ll be home at the end of January but I’m trying not to think about it so I can be focused. It’s weird to think about. I've turned pretty awkward here. Wonder how that transition is going to be.

One of the members that we are close with had her baby. I can't wait to see him tomorrow. The best part is his name-- ready? Ishmael Zoram. Yes, straight out of the Book of Mormon. Her other child is named Zion. They are very poor. I feel bad for them. They had to walk to the hospital! She had to walk to the hospital while she was starting to go into labor. Apparently the hospital was super overcrowded and she was in labor for a long time so they kicked her out of the room so they could use it for other people. She had to have her baby and recover in the hallway. When we went to their house to teach some of their family members, who are our investigators, we overheard them talking about what they were going to eat for dinner. They were trying to scrounge up some rice... no main dish. Then we asked them about it and she just said "yeah, I'm really hungry." I almost cried. I'm trying to think of what I can do for them... Sister T and I are going to buy the baby an outfit later today so that the baby will have something ok to wear.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to a stake relief society activity (right during prime proselyting time).  It turned out to be a 3 hour discussion on modesty and how to properly wear garments. I’m not exaggerating. They didn't say anything you aren't allowed to say outside of the temple. There were investigators there! Also, they said, "and missionaries, we know you have to walk a lot, but can you just comb your hair? You still have to look presentable!" ok... thank you for that. I'll try to work on my hair as I'm climbing up hundreds of steps in a tropical storm... haha.

We had a ward FHE. It was very fun. One of our investigators came! Did I tell you about her last week? She’s the investigator that kind of creeps us out that has a ton of problems? She came with her old helper guy and the guy that is boarding at her house. I think she had a good time. She didn't come to church because apparently her son who is a preacher was giving a sermon so she had to attend that. Also, a member informed us that she used to own a bar with prostitutes. She was like in charge of them and the whole barangay calls her "mama." She is quite the character. I'll let you know how it goes.

We were tracting the other day. We knocked on this house and this guy came out and was holding a half-dead chicken upside down. He had just apparently beaten it to death. We tried to give him a pamphlet but he said he was too busy beating his chicken.

Last week, we were teaching one of our less-active families. They said their 14-year-old was at a birthday party. Our lesson was on the Word of Wisdom. I was teaching and then I just hear a really loud knock/beating on the door. Their son comes in just staggering around. Immediately his parents start asking him what he drank. That was super awkward! Apparently, that's the first time he ever drank and it happened to be while the missionaries were at his house teaching the Word of Wisdom. So sad...he's 14! Anyway, then his dad looks at us and says---"OK, let's continue."

We taught Sister M last night. We are really struggling with what to do with her. She is not progressing at all anymore. We watched the restoration with her. We bore our testimonies and the spirit was really strong. I hope that she recognized it. But, some good news…Sister H is down from 5 cigarettes a day to one.

We have whole parts of our mission that aren’t open for missionaries yet. Hopefully more areas will be open soon.

I’ve got to go. Love you! Have a great week!

Brother Damaso and his son

Tri-zone conference. I said, "Hey, let's take a picture with both of you kissing my cheeks." Sister Ackerman refused. 

 On the way to one of our investigator's house in Bua, Tuding

Candles and Phlashlights

Right now it is the middle of typhoon season. We had a couple of typhoons last week. They were both just signal 2 though. If it's signal 3, we have to stay inside. It's cold and rainy here. We had really crazy wind and heavy rain and the power was out a lot.

We had to teach quite a few lessons using flashlights and candles inside people’s houses. Also, walking outside on the street in the pitch dark is terrifying. We kept thinking someone was going to come and murder us and no one would see. It was ok though. Turns out I’m still alive! We got home one night and the lights were out. Sister T and I walked in the door and began to pray and all of a sudden we could hear people walking around upstairs. We convinced ourselves it was the neighbors next door... started to pray again then it got really loud the noises upstairs. So, we ran out of the house and called the district leader. Sister T says, "Elder C, I think there's someone in our house." Then, we saw a light coming down the stairs. We both screamed and ran away. Elder C was freaking out "What happened? What happened??? Sister T!?" Luckily, I looked back and saw that the legs coming down the stairs were white. Upon closer examination, we realized it was Sister Jackson. Apparently, they came home early because she was sick. haha.

Remember when I told you about the prospector from Toy Story that came to our ward? He came again yesterday. Apparently he lives in our ward boundaries. Anyway, he sat down right behind me before sacrament meeting started and kept talking to me really loudly. Apparently he's from Idaho and is moving back with his Filipina wife. Anyway, he was so mean yesterday! He was saying stuff like (all two rows of Filipinos could hear everything he said). "Isn’t Filipino food disgusting? Adobo is only good the first time you have it. This stuff here is just crap! Even the American restaurants here are gross. When I order a burrito, I want something more than beans! Don’t you just miss goin’ down to Arbys and gettin’ yerself a big ol reuben? and Chicago Connection pizza?" it was awful. He was being so so rude and condescending while all of the Filipinos are just quietly bowing their heads and taking it. So, I defended Filipino food and the Philippines a lot. I didn't agree with that gross guy at all. I think I won over all of their hearts. No wonder people hate Americans! It’s because Americans just come to the Philippines if they are missionaries or they are old gross guys that come here to get a wife. 

 

I have this weird problem where even when I see white people I start speaking Tagalog to them. My English is definitely getting worse. I used to think it was super annoying when I would read that on people’s blogs, but it's actually true.

Lately I’ve taken to cooking Filipino food at home. I made some delicious fish the other day (served whole of course). Sister T is a pro at fish since she's from a tiny island. So she teaches me how to make it delicious. Also, one of our less active members, made us this delicious crab stuff with coconut milk. We are going to try and make it this week.

It was funny earlier at our zone activity. We had a talent show. All the elders from New Zealand and Fiji and Samoa are doing all the awesome things like haka and whatnot…just super manly. Then a group of white elders got up there and sang a hymn. Quite the difference haha!! Our apartment made "awards" for everyone and announced it like an award show. i.e. best dressed, most likely to whatever... they were pretty funny. It was a big hit. Then we played volleyball barefoot in the rain.

Our investigators are ok. They are very slowly progressing. Brother D is doing great. He gets to church 30 minutes early and is super devoted. We are slowly still working on his family. I don't think they're going to come around any time soon, but I’m pretty sure they will in the future. We found 2 different people this week that seemed really great. They were both very interested in finding the truth and they really understood our message. I’ll let you know on any progress with them.

Ok..It’s time for me to go. Love all of you! Have a great week.

Having dinner with the Celeste family.

[Thank you to Sister Celeste for these pictures and for being so kind.]

 

 

From Sister Celeste--"The sisters are on their way to teach a discussion. I was so busy taking photos of the lovely flower, 'Midnight Queen.' I had to stop the Sisters and tell them all about this unusual flower...It only blooms at night and it has a sweet smell. When the flower fully blooms, it is bigger than your face."