Hey everyone. This is officially my first letter from the Philippines haha. I am not going to lie, I am having quite a hard time adapting to this place. I was pretty homesick while I was at the MTC but that was just missing family and friends. Now is a more literal HOMEsick. I miss the USA haha. But on the other hand this place is awesome. Whatever picture you have of the Philippines, erase it...It is ten times prettier, but ten times poorer also. I really think I had to come here to realize how fortunate I have been my whole life and to truly become thankful for it all. I miss all of you guys like crazy! Like tens times more than I expected. Going from hanging out with Breck, Mace, Britt, Mom and Dad everyday, now to seeing you never has really been hard on me. But I will be fine. Just pray for me to not miss you and home :) I know God will answer our prayers.
So I will start from the first. We got on the plane and everything worked smoothly. The flight from LA to Hong Kong was so so so long and I didn't sleep a wink! Then in Hong Kong we had a while to relax and it was early morning there so I got some cool pictures of the sunrise and some signs and what not. Then we flew to Manila and it was fun. I sat by a woman who had been away from her family for four years working in India (Dubai, I think) and she was going home for New Years and for a few weeks. Then in Manila we got our bags and stuff and had to literally run to the
Iloilo plane due to our bags taking a while. It was really a miracle that we got on the next plane, some people got on seriously seconds before they were closing the doors. The Philippine airports are not quite as efficient as American ones. Then we landed in Iloilo and we walked out to the office missionaries...like the assistant to the president, recorder, financial guys, etc. We rode on a bus to the church in Lapaz where we had an orientation. Then we ate at the mission home. That night we slept at a hotel in Lapaz. The next morning we had more orientation with Pres. Pagaduan (Pah-god-ew-on) who is really awesome! We also ate at the mission home which is the home of President and Sister Pagaduan. That night we stayed in a hotel. Then Friday we went to a church in Arevalo. Where we had a transfer meeting.
I met my trainer, Elder Bosotros from northern Philippines, he speaks a little English. But my roommates are American, Elder Gunnell and Kleinman. We are in a town called Sibalom, it is really small and poor but so so pretty. The people are amazing too. Our area is really large and we have to walk a ton but it is fun to see things. We have an American investigator so I have to teach him exclusively. But that is okay because Elder Bosotros has to teach all the rest of the lessons, due to the language here. It is called "Kinaray-a"...It is 100% completely different from Tagalog. So I have to start from square one...so frustrating haha. I am on the eastern part of the Panay Island about 15-20 minutes inland from the coast town San Jose.
My companion is really awesome at teaching and stuff and it seems like the people understand and like it. Some things are hard because he knows only a little English but we have a good time. Sometimes he won't tell me where we are going and all the sudden we are in an investigators house and I don't know the background but it will be okay. The food is surprisingly ok, not delicious by any means, but pretty good nevertheless. We ate this thing called "mango float" and it was to die for. It was like a cake thing sort of.
I am learning a lot here and have really great leaders. It has just been hard to adjust and I still have not fully adjusted. It is just a completely different world. Different food, people, transportation, air, weather, language, everything! When people are done with water bottles and stuff they just throw it
wherever they are, in the river, on the side of road, wherever... weird...haha... We ride jeepneys and tricycles a lot, too. We have a few investigators but we need to find more, which is what we will do tomorrow, probably, just tract, cuz we haven't done that yet.
I am so jealous about going to Brian Head. It is so hot and humid. Just like Cancun this summer... always. We have to sleep with fans on us and the shower is a bucket of cold water but it sometimes feels ok due to the heat outside. We live in a little 3 room concrete dorm that the roof is not attached to the wall but it rains a lot and we haven't had any leaks yet. Today is Monday, my p day and I have not gotten your package, maybe next Monday at district meeting? It is about 3:30 pm here...
From what the elders say, the FedEx flat rate box is the best for the money. They say DHL is the fastest though but might cost more. Someone has gotten a DHL in four days haha way fast. But I can't really think of anything I need except like jerky and chocolate. They sell chocolate here but it is way way too expensive to use our missionary money on. I am about to go get my hair cut for 25 pesos (about 50 cents) then buy some pants for about 200 pesos (about 4 dollars) then learn how to do laundry by hand! yay! haha
Haha Dad I am so glad to hear the shed is going well. you are a stud for building it so fast. Sorry to hear about the freezer, that is too bad, darn Rocky Mountain Power. You would think this place's power is nuts, which it is. There are bare wires everywhere and if you are not smart you could easily get shocked. You don't really have to train Dre, haha, I will be back soon and I will train him to be world class! I am really growing up here Dad and learning how to handle things. I have had you to rely on my whole life but now I have to take care of things. Thanks for teaching me while I was young. You are the best
'tatay' ever! and I mean it.
Mom: Thanks for everything. I love you so much. You are my hero.
Britt: I am so happy to know you are doing well and I can't wait to see you in a little while! I Love you.
Just know I love you with all my heart and I pray about you all day, every day. I hope this time
flies so I can see you all in 22 months.
Love you so much!
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