Emily~
Of course the Alice in Wonderland movie is weird/strange. It's
directed by Tim Burton! That's what he does... making things weird.
My hair was just permanently straightened. They call it "Rebond"
here. No coloring or anything.
People like to ask if I will marry a Philippino. They think it's
really funny. I just tell them one of either two things: I'm not
allowed to have a boyfriend now or Kon buotan siya. (If he's kind ;P)
Eva~
This transfer was pretty hard. S. Taunan left on Tuesday afternoon
and S. Malicdem didn't arrive until Friday afternoon. They moved the
transfer meeting for one day later so I was with members for 3 days.
@_@ For two of those three days, my "companion" was two young women
and a girl in primary who is 10 years old. It was hard because I
didn't want to ride to any appointments because it would be expensive
with 4 instead of 2 and I taught by myself. :S The total lessons for
this week are half than usual :(
Conference for us is April 10 and 11. I suppose that means its a
delayed broadcast then. Which makes me hope it isn't in Cebuano. I
want to be able to understand. :( We only get to attend the Sunday
sessions I think.
I am looking forward to your hand picked out music selections for myself. <3
Have you been taking pre-natal vitamins?
Mom~
Your email this week was great!~ You had a pretty exciting week to
write all of that. And I'm really glad that the bathroom is starting
to get done. hahaha.
So we just finished HOLY WEEK! Semana Santos. That was intense. On
Good Friday in the morning, the WHOLE downtown was closed. Like,
almost deserted. I thought about it for a second and thought how nice
it would be if that attitude of worship was on every Sunday and not
just on one day a year. There was a procession, small floats of
different stages of Christ's journey to the cross and it ended with
some floats of saints. I wondered why there was no float with His
resurrection, but I figured it out later because about 2 am in the
morning on Sunday, there was a display in downtown that pronounced
"Christ is Risen, Alleluiah!" :) They pretty much "re-live" the
events for those couple days.
My new companion is S. Malicdem. She speaks English too! So we can
communicate/learn words from each other/define things for
understanding. Yay. Her previous companion was S. Dustin. <3! (My
first companion in the MTC) So far I know that she really likes green
and she really likes ginger too. :P
And I've been on my mission for 5 months now. :S That's alot.
I've been reading the New Testament recently because I finished Jesus
the Christ, which talks a great deal about Christ's ministry (which is
recorded in the New Testament! haha)
This is because we have General Conference this week:
Mosiah 15:11 - Follow the Prophet, follow the Prophet, follow the
Prophet, he knows the waaay~
--
~the end~
April 5, 2010 Hilongos Week 13
March 29, 2010 Hilongos Week 12
Mom~
I think I remember a time when you said you weren't interested in
Harry Potter... and then look what happened! hahaha.
Jessie or Emily~
When Mom is done with the additions to the house, take pictures so I can see! ;)
Eva~
I had/have a sore throat and a cough this week TOO! We're so
connected, even across the globe. ;) Oh, and I printed off that email
that you sent me a couple of weeks ago so that I can ALWAYS read it if
I should ever have a need. <3
Kristian~
Did you get my letter? I asked if you wanted a belt. They have belts
here made out of coconuts too!
Dad~
I received my valentines day card this week. ;P Haha There was
several letters from the ward as well wishing a happy valentines day.
Our ward is so awesome. <3
More questions to be answered~ :D
So have you already had your zone conference for the second transfer?
(Assuming you have a conference each transfer...) How do you know
that your comp is leaving? Is she done? Or did someone tell you?
~We have 1 zone conference for each transfer. It happens like two
weeks before the transfer ends. I'm sad because I figured out that
we've been having our district meetings each week with our entire zone
(there are only 8 of us) and Pres. Malit said district meetings have
to be separate. So I don't get to see the people in my zone as often
now. :( S. Taunan is going home. So I'm being left... again. Haha.
I think I said that last email too. We're having a weird situation
now though... We found out yesterday that they aren't going to
announce who is transferring until TUESDAY MORNING. (Before I came,
they announced it on Sunday... and when I first came it was Monday
afternoon.) And I think they changed the transfer meeting from
Wednesday to THURSDAY. The missionary being left behind is supposed
to stay with a branch/ward missionary because not everyone is going to
Tacloban for transfer meeting. (We're the farthest zone from
Tacloban)
So in my case... S. Taunan is leaving me on Tuesday morning. And my
companion won't arrive until Thursday evening. :(!! So I'm going to
be with a member for TWO days. And I reaaaaally expect that there
will be some ping-pong ball effect happening, where the members trade
me off at times. So I'm just... not sure what to expect. Especially
because we have some appointments. @_@
Oh Julie your pictures are so incredible. You are in such a strange
and different place. I hope you are loving the new and exotic
experience! There's not much like that here!
~Actually I meant to talk about this earlier, but I forgot. "The
Other Side of Heaven" is actually not a very accurate comparison to
the Philippines that I've seen so far. ;P The main differences so far
for me have been diet, the climate, religious ferver, and the
friendliness of the people. Some people here have houses made out of
cement, others out of bamboo, but the biggest things that have
affected me are the above 4. There are businesses and communities
similar to back home here, and it doesn't seem that different I think.
I realized that because I grew up in Long Beach, I probably have a
very city-like-view of the world. But I think this (Hilongos) is
probably pretty similar to a small town feeling in America.
~Diet of course is obvious, rice at every meal. There's a word here
"sud-an" It means "The thing you put on top of rice" or "Rice
topping". So sometimes I hear people say Whats your favorite sud-an?
What's your favorite thing to eat (obviously with rice). And there's
a funny tendency here to eat your pancit (noodles like the ones Mila
makes) with rice. Very carbohydrate heavy. Haha. Everyone also
likes fish and pork and chicken. There don't seem to be many
vegetable options.
~Climate is hot, shimpre! Slowly getting used to it though. First day
I was here it was veeeeerry obvious but like I said, I'm much more
used to it now.
~Religious fervor. Everyone has a professed religion. Most often,
it's Catholic because of the Spanish influence. Everyone's parents
were Catholic or are Catholic now. As far as I know the only
"Atheists" here are the foreigners. But on that same note, a lot of
the people we teach don't know what to say if we ask them "What did
Christ do when he lived on the earth?"
~Friendliness of the people. Like I mentioned before, nearly everyone
wants to say Hi. Mostly because "Oh hey, its a foreigner... HI! HI
HI!" But also, I think the Philippine people are much more down to
earth and real than the general populace back home.
Are you able to find enough toilet paper?
~Yea, I just buy it at the general merchandise store. Haha.
Do you have to use squatters ever, or are there usually toilets?
~It depends on the place... The more well off members have toilets.
But most people, if they have a toilet, don't have a flusher. Pouring
a bucket of water down the toilet gets the job done though. I've been
careful enough to plan when I can use a toilet. xD But also, toilet
paper is rare in that most people don't use it. It's very American
though. I... don't know what the people in bamboo houses do for a
bathroom. o_O Lots of people in communities bathe at the local water
pump, but as to the other business, I am still naive of it.
Do you have any fast food restaurants there like McDonalds? Maybe the
town is too small. Bermejo was. Maybe in the city did you see while
you were there?
~There are food stands here in the middle of town. Lots of lechon
chicken (rotisserie) stands and a stand called BigMak that makes hot
dogs/hamburgers (I know what you're thinking, but they're different!)
Maasin has Jolibees, which is like McDonalds:America,
Jolibee:Philippines. They serve fast food fried chicken and rice,
spagetti and hamburgers.
I think you look tanned. =)
~My arms are tanned. And the top (not the sides or toes) of my feet.
My face and neck aren't really tanned though. I use an umbrella. :)
Are there ANY tall people there? Or are you pretty much the tallest person?
~Some are tall. The tallest are around my height. haha. Mostly short.
Are there any chubby people? Or is everyone skinny?
~There are chubby people. But they're rarer.
Have you come across anything yucky that they eat?
~There's a raw fish dish that I saw that the members/S. Taunan told me
not to eat. I complied. For the most part, I think the food's yummy.
I've never eaten fish so often in my life, and it's only when we eat
at Branch President Alex Papel's house. There was one dish that was
made that was too native for me. It was a root of some sort, like
taro. It just was too bland for me. :S I'm not interested in eating
balut. But I AM interested in eating Banana-Q :) I've been trying to
eat mangoes every chance I get. <3
~I think I just leveled-up in my rice eating. I knew I was above
average as an American that likes rice, but now it's pretty intense.
This afternoon for lunch we ate instant pancit (like instant ramen but
less sodium packed...) and rice. Noodles on top of rice! Imagine
that. o_O
Now from me to you!
How's your Book of Mormon reading going? ;) I'm in 3rd Nephi now. My
brain was hurting when Isaiah was being quoted. It always ends up
like: Bah, I'm confused and I don't understand anymore. Oh wait...
He's quoting Isaiah.
CONFERENCE IS COMING UP!! YAAAAAAAY.
Brother Lauriano Beltran brought his daughter and wife to church on
Sunday! Oh recent converts are the BEST. <3<3
--
~the end~
March 22, 2010 Hilongos Week 11
Jessie~
It takes really long for packages to get here because we only get to
pick them up once every 6 weeks, during zone conferences. (When all
the missionaries in certain areas meet together for training from the
mission president) So it may get here quickly... but I end up waiting
for it anyway eh heh... I'm including a picture of what happened to
the gummy bears mom sent me. :)
Eva~
Cebu is actually REALLY CLOSE. Only a 5 hour boat/car ride. Which is
actually really really close. Because Cebu is another island. Haha.
Hahahaha Morgan wore red on St. Patrick's day. :D
Mom~
You will have to have Jessie send me pictures when the bathroom is
done. Or of the house/gate. You sure have a lot of projects in mind.
=X As for the food in the Philippines... yum! Of course! Today we
ate Chicken Curry for lunch. It's a sweet curry and not spicy at all,
made with coconut milk. :) I'm lucky S. Taunan knows how to cook.
If you tell Emily or Jessie that you want to watch Twilight, just have
one of them be in charge of borrowing/renting it.
I'm attaching a LOT of pictures <3
Some of them are from when we went to "Big Momma Mary", which is
basically a giant Catholic statue of Mary on top of a rather large
hill. The scenery of the city below is Maasin, it's not Hilongos
where I'm assigned.
Some other ones are from when we went to the waterfalls the next week.
My personal study time here doesn't always include a waterfall in the
background. ;) We washed some banana tree leaves that were nearby on
a tree, dumped rice and fish/pork on them and ate with our hands!!
>:D It was pretty awesome~ As you can see, those pictures were when
my hair was 'all natural' and curly.
But like I mentioned last week, I got my hair done and it's now
permanently straight. I'm SO happy because now I'm "gwapa" all the
time now with no effort. ;) I've included a hair-flying fan picture
than S. Taunan tried to sneak into which made a great picture. <3
There's also this one bridge that is over a river that leads into the
ocean that we pass occasionally on the way to an investigators house.
Almost every time we pass it in a truck, (its far, so we always ride
there) I hold ready with my camera, hoping that THIS will be the time
I get a great shot. :P
I finished reading Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage! HOLY MOLY
it's a very large book.
My next goal is to finish the BoM (I'm in Helaman, so I'm close!) and
then I'll start on the New Testament.
Guess what though! I'm completely fluent in Cebuano now!!
Just kidding. :S
I usually get my message across, but It's hard to understand people exactly.
We had a good investigator, a tatay named Martin. He was a very kind
old man and he would read the assignments we gave. His wife was nice
to us as well, but after we met her she told us she doesn't want to
listen because she's Baptist. It's the first time someone's actually
said that to me. (so far... I'm certain it'll happen later too xD)
Usually the people just hide and pretend they aren't there. But it's
kind of nice, so you don't have to worry if they're hiding or if
they're just hard to get a hold of. :P
leave me... again. I will probably be assigned in Hilongos... again.
hahaha. I hope I don't end up staying here for 8 months like Sister
Holden did though... :S Or maybe I do want to stay here that long.
I'm scared of having to learn Waray-waray.
Alma 16:14 - Teach to everyone!!
Alma 32:6-7 - And then... focus on those who are ready to hear the message!
--
~the end~
March 15, 2010 Hilongos Week 10
Sister Lillywhite, aka. KAREN!?
YESH. Elder Erickson and I were actually talking, and we figured out
that he was the one you told us about, how his english was failing in
his emails home and you were so proud of him. :P
Mom:
I've never met Michelle.
Eva:
My ipod works. My charger I brought works on 220 and 110 electricity. :)
I just have been using the same 110 songs over and over again
though... so I don't know when I'll go crazy. We have a cool set up
thing with a CD player if we want to play music. I could probably
find a CD case here if I needed it. So whatever's more convienent for
you and mailing. <3 style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">--
March 8, 2010 Hilongos Week 9
~Mom
I did get the valentines day package. I was surprised because it was
a really hot day, and when I opened the package half of the gummy
bears in one of the bags had melted into a large colorful gelatiness
mass. :P
~Eva
At least if Katie is going to stay with you, you will have someone to
be with sometimes. :)
And I wanted to ask you to send me burned CDs of music that you
liked/think would be mission appropriate to listen to. I trust your
judgement. I think I'd like best two years, for one. :D
Hi everyone! More questions~
"You would be just starting into fall over there pretty soon wouldn't
you? So in a few months you'll be going into winter, right? Your
seasons are reversed from ours correct?"
I suppose that's the way that it's figured out. But it seems like
over here there's only hot season and rainy season. And I don't think
they're very specific to time. If it's hot, they just say its El
Nino.
"So how was Zone Conference? Did you have to travel to get there? Are
you the only missionaries in Hilongos? How far away are the nearest
other missionaries?"
Zone conference was so small this time! We only had 16 missionarys,
two zones, for the one that we attended this week. S. Taunan and I
are the only missionarys in Hilongos. The other missionarys are
fairly near it's not too difficult to meet them.
"Do people ask to touch your hair?"
No, not really. My hair doesn't look very soft, being all frizzy and
things. But I'm actually probably going to get it straightened next
week. :P We'll see how it goes~ I actually think the Philipina's
hair looks so much softer than mine. <3
I don't have alot of time this week because we had an activity at some
waterfalls in Bato, the city next to us this week. I'll send pictures
next week! Love you all <3
DID YOU READ YOUR Book of Mormon?!
--
~the end~
March 1, 2010 Hilongos Week 8
Questions from Eva. :)
Are there ever any hurricanes or other scary things like that?
Apparently we had an earthquake somewhere in Letye just this past
weekend. So we were told not to go near the beaches because of big
waves. But I haven't noticed anything, we only knew of that report
because President Malit txted it to us. (Yes, we have a missionary
cell phone :P)
I hope your house is not made of straw. ;-) Do you feel like you are
on "other side of heaven?"
Our house is made out of cement and its actually pretty nice. The
nicest houses have tile flooring instead of plain cement. We have
tile flooring and a little bathroom and a fridge.
Are you allowed to eat fish?
Fish is well... pretty commonplace. Yeah I eat fish. :P
Today we went to a place in Maasin called the shrine for big Mama
Mary. It's literally a chapel on top of a large hill with a giant
statue of Mary on it. I have pictures that I will send later.
Zone conference is this Tursday! So I might be able to get my
Valentine's Day package. :)
Christopher and Janice are continuing to progress! Christopher has to
contact his wife in Manila so they can separate (they haven't had
contact for 4 or 5 years already) so he can properly marry Janice.
He's soooo willing to keep commitments and live righteously! It's
usually a big hassel (and requires money) to be separated, so it's
commonplace for a "live-in" situation.
We also had NINE investigators come to church this week! NINE! Our
gospel principles classroom is small, but we managed to fit 9
investigators, us two, and several new converts in for the lesson. If
there had been even 2 more people I think we would have had to go into
a bigger room. It makes me happy because I told S. Holden before she
left that I had a goal to have so many people in the classroom that we
would need to use a bigger one. ;)
Another investigator that we have was a surprise. He's attended
church 4 times already. S. Taunan and I thought he was a member!
Hahaha! So of course, we immediately made appointments with him so
that we could start teaching him ASAP. :) His name is Julius and he
had been attending the Youth class instead of Gospel Essentials, which
is why we thought he was a member. He also attends seminary! Yeesh!
:D
We met a sister who is a Catholic equivalent of a seminary teacher a
couple days ago. She was very um... forward in her proclamation of
how she only believes in God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy
Ghost. I responded "Bitaw" which is like "True!" but I think she
has a misperception of what LDS believe. I think she was under the
impression that we worship Joseph Smith because we said he was a
modern day prophet. She was gone before a proper conversation could
happen though. Yes, we believe in prophets, the same way that we
believe in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. But we don't worship
prophets, because they are esteemed only as servants of the true
subject of our worship, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit, the Godhead.
Alma 40: What happens after we die?
--
~the end~