February 8, 2010 Hilongos Week 5

Questions from dad!
What time do you get up in the morning and what time do you go to bed?
6:30 am - wake up
10:30 pm - sleeeeeep.

What are your beds like there? Are they pretty much the same?
The mattresses here are like long foam thingies. They have a cover on
them though with various patterns. I have my sheets on them. :)

Are you living with a family or are you in an apartment?
We live in a apartment owned by a church member. We actually live
right next to their business, which is a "Funeral Home". They arrange
funerals and sell caskets or something. I almost wanted to laugh when
I saw where we lived for the first time because I wanted to stick a
sign underneath it saying: Plan of Salvation! Where do we go after
we die?!

Is your Cebuano getting better?
I'd say my Cebuano is definitely better than when I first got here.
o.O I can speak more easily and there have been times where I feel
like I wasn't really hindered at all in speaking. :) I am more able
to understand what people are saying at their speed, but I still am
lacking several hundred vocabulary words to understand everything.

~Emily
I'm just glad you're okay.

~Eva
I'll just bring the email addresses next week, if I dont forget. -_-
I thought I wouldn't have to bring them this week cuz I was sure that
the one I had from before was correct. We'll SEE!!
We use alcohol to clean our hands.

~Mom
Maybe the house will be completely different when I get back. :)

I was going to attach some pictures, but I forgot my camera cord. I'm
always forgetting things. I have a really awesome picture of the Bato
Zone (My zone) and it makes me think that the picture is meant for a
TV show cover or something. I think you'll understand what I mean
when I upload it next week. We're all different sized heads but
everyone is PERFECTLY positioned so that you can see everyone. I can
imagine the title now: BATO ZONE: PHILIPPINES. It's a new reality
show!

(NEXT WEEK IS TRANSFERS! AND S. HOLDEN IS LEAVING ME. D:)

I found out this week that I lied again last week. The dessert I was
talking about is called "Halo-Halo". S. Holden just laughed at me
when I said I wrote "Hola-Hola". The week before was "Hula-Hula".

OH. EVA. I ATE BANANA-Q THIS WEEK. I could just die and melt. So
yummy. :D And this other dessert thing called Biko. It's like sticky
rice... for dessert! Because it has coconut milk and sugar and things
to make it sweet.

Loriano Beltran had his baptismal interview this week! He was pretty
much an ideal investigator because he's the one who asked his brother
about the Church and he comes to church every week with his brother.
The hardest part of the whole mission is finding people who have that
desire. I've concluded the best I can do is help provide such a
strong environment with the Spirit that the people we teach will want
that Spirit in their lives ALL THE TIME. :D It's all very simple,
theoretically.

We have a TON of new investigators though. We had a investigator
fireside on Friday and we handed out some flyers in some areas around
the Church. We showed the Restoration (in Cebuano!) and gave a tour
of the Church and had a Q&A session. Why don't Mormons use crosses,
and about the "Mormon bible".

The LDS church doesn't use crosses because a cross is representative
of Christ's death. We acknowledge and even revere the death of the
Savior on the cross. But after His death, He was resurrected and so
our message is that He Lives! He lives and loves and guides us today
as our Lord and Savior, and we strive to show our devotion to Christ
through living our lives by following His example and becoming more
like Him.

Mormons use The Book of Mormon and the Bible as our scripture canon.
The BoM is another testament of Jesus Christ. It does not replace the
Bible, but exemplifies it. The BoM is a testament that God loves all
of His children and speaks to all of them. It testifies of the
mission of Christ and how we can become better disciples of Him.
Combined with the Bible, it becomes the ultimate witness of Christ and
His Divinity.

I've been a little more diligent in my BoM reading this week than the
last couple weeks I was in the MTC. Already I've gained so many
insights and counsels I wish I had several months ago. ;)

HOW'S YOUR BOM READING GOING? I asked you to read it last week!
Sooo... Have you read anything yet?! (I'm talking to all of you. At
the same time.)

1 Nephi 11: We can all see God's work for ourselves, we don't have to
rely on the testimonies of others.
Alma 8-14: The gospel is for everyone! God is no respecter of
persons, missionaries can't be either. ;)

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~the end~