Morgan~
I never properly said thank you for all of your efforts in sending me
my CDs. :) These will last me a long while for many Sundays and
mission days to come! <3
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Birthday Emily and Lizzie <3
The mother's day phone call last night was actually at 12 midnight.
haha I put the phone next to my bed so that if you did call, it would
wake me up. :) But I didn't know what time it was when you called,
except that it was past 11 until I looked at the clock afterward.
Hearing voices is so much cooler than email. It shows so much more
personality and emotion. :)
Today is election day in the Philippines. We've been hearing campaign
music for the past month in cars that drive around with the local
candidates. Everyone asks us who we're going to vote for, but I have
to remind them that I'm not a citizen. ;) Sister Malicdem says she's
going to vote for Sister Loveland.
I'm not actually going to go TO the Cebu temple for the dedication,
even though it's really close. 200 pesos (about $4) and 5 hours and I
can be there from Hilongos. ;) But of course, that would interrupt
the work here and Cebu is a different mission anyway. But I'm excited
for the dedication because this is the first time I'll be attending
one.
We're here with the Zone Leaders because we had lunch at a members
house, and she taught me how to cook Curry Chicken with Coconut milk.
Lami!! (Yummy!) And they said they were going to receive information
about transfers right now, so we're waiting on that. :)
S. Malicdem taught me how to make yummy fried fish during this
transfer, so I'm almost completely Filipina now. I also keep learning
Tagalog from her, because she uses a lot of Tagalog. And just two
days ago I realized that Sister Malicdem actually uses very little
English, but I never noticed until now because I've been able to
understand her speaking Cebuano-English to me (aka, Bisglish, because
Cebuano is also known as Bisaya here)
How's your Book of Mormon reading going? Our scripture mastery this
week is 2 Nep 28:7-9. It's a long one! :)
I love you all so much! :) Bye-byeee~
--
~the end~
May 10, 2010 Hilongos Week 18
May 3, 2010 Hilongos Week 17
Eva~
I noticed Elizabeth's haircut because of the blog posts that you
forwarded to me. There was a picture of Elizabeth, and her hair
looked conspicuously short.
And I thought that your comment about knowing what everything tastes
like was funny. I remember one time when we went to Jamba Juice and
they had that wheat-grass drink. We decided to try it to see what it
tasted like, and it tasted exactly like what I thought grass would
taste like. (Not yummy) The smell probably has something to do with
it.
Last Tuesday, we went to Tacloban city (the headquarters of the
mission) because a large amount of recent American missionaries had to
go and get finger-printed for our re-newing of Visas. So I was able
to see a good amount of missionaries that I had met in the MTC. :) And
I got to see Sister Dustin again! <3 Sister Dustin is already
training a new american sister, and she's only on her 4th transfer!!
If I had to do that, I would die. :S But who knows, at the end of
this transfer, that might happen, I'll be in the same shoes as her
when she started. ;P
I haven't had to learn Waray-Waray yet, but there's still a good
amount of time for that to happen... Sister Malicdem has been
assigned in Cebuano areas her whole mission so far (9 months). That's
pretty rare, because Cebuano is only about 1/3rd of the mission. The
other 2/3rds are Waray-Waray or something else.
I washed my clothes by hand again today~ My hands had pretty much
healed enough to where it didn't hurt, but it was laundry day again,
so of course i have some new spots that are rather raw. But it's not
as bad as last week! :D So it'll just get better from now on.
Sitting like a Filipino is hard! They manage to like... squat with
their heels on the floor. If I ever try to do it, I fall down.
Learning how to do that would come in hand in the event that there's
no chairs.
Have you ever wondered what happens to your clothes after you give to
the thrift shop? If they aren't sold in the thrift shop, it appears
that it's sold by the kilo to the people in the Philippines! And then
they have these large stands which is basically Filipino thrift stores
called Okay-Okay (pronounced Okai-Okai). The word means to like...
shuffle through, because you have to look through all the clothes in
the piles before you find a good one to buy. But they're cheap!
Woot~ Except for the purses, because the purses at D.I. are only 50
cents. :) Here, the items are usually about $1 or $0.75 equivalent in
pesos.
One thing I've learned as a missionary is how to learn how to speak in
public... almost on the spot. Ahhh! Sister Malicdem keeps getting
assigned to do that. Either because she's newer here, so the members
want to pick her, or because our Heavenly Father thinks she needs the
experience. ;P
Julius was baptized! He's been waiting for so long! :D He sure is a
joker-joker, but when it comes to knowing about the gospel, he is
amazing! He surprises us every time when he stands to give a
testimony because it comes out so sincere. :)
We have 4 (Irinia, Christopher, Janice, Agnes) more people who will
probably be baptized this month, (May 15) but we're not sure if I'm
going to transfer or not cuz I've been here for 3 transfers. Sister
Malicdem's "discernment" is that I will transfer. Haha, but if I
transfer, that means I will have 4 companions in 4 transfers! So I'm
not really sure about the likelihood of that.
Cebu temple dedication is so close!! June 13!! YAY. I'm really
excited to get a dedication ticket!!
I've started memorizing the scripture masteries because Pres. Malit
asked us to pick 100 scriptures, and since I never finished seminary,
I figured I should pick those ones. :) Today I worked on Ether 12:27
and 3 Nep 11:29 and can almost recite them perfectly~ :D
--
~the end~
April 26, 2010 Hilongos Week 16
Mom~
I got the packages this last zone conference. The starburst are
yummy, but I have to keep them in the fridge because we have ants that
manage to go EVERYWHERE in the apartment, so the only safe place is in
the fridge. :P
Eva~
YAY! A house! The reason you think mom's yard is so big is because
it's the 2nd biggest in our neighborhood at home. :) Elizabeth got a
haircut?
I've included pictures!
The giant pig is owned by the branch President, Alex Papel. She's
pregnant right now.
The beautiful scenery is at Atabay, Hilongos.
You can see how different my tan is on my arm (VERY) when I wear that
green shirt. o_O
The really awesome cave Catholic chapel is in Maasin city. You have
to hike up these evily painful stairs that represent Christ's journey
to the cross before you can reach the chapel.
I have great news~!
Today I FINALLY figured out how to wash clothes by hand. Ahahahha!
I've been using a washboard before now and occasionally trying to wash
one or two by hand. I asked Sister Malicdem to show me and it clicked
inside my head! The same way that it just clicks when you figure out
how to ride a bicycle! I was washing by hand, and it was awesome and
even a little fun until my hands started to burn. o_o Yea, since it
was my first time by hand my hands are now sore in spots from rubbing
off skin. Owie.
Julius had his interview on saturday. So this saturday, he will be baptised. :)
We found a new family in Atabay named Matas that we're excited for.
Hopefully we'll get to see them all again this week!
I finished the Book of Mormon. :) Next time I go through, I'm going
to color code it. Woooo!
--
~the end~
April 19, 2010 Hilongos Week 15
Eva~
Wow!!! Foreclosures are the best! (Cuz they're cheaper ;D) This
house might be the reason that you shouldn't have bought the other
houses. ;P
Take videos of Elizabeth talking!! They're good momentos forever!
Jessie~
That one picture of Kira looks like it could be similar to the
pictures of you or Eva as a toddler too! :D Take videos too of the
babies. <3 I don't think I can watch them now, but someday I will. :)
Mom~
I love Disney movies. :) I hope I like the Princess and the Frog.
I have to quote this because it was so funny to read. A good-well
wish from Eva: "Have a great week in your Filipino paradise with the
amazing gorgeous scenery and NICE little people." xD
We're hopefully having a baptism this Saturday. He's a youth named
Julius that we thought was a member! hahaha. He's been attending
church straight for almost 3 months, and he got an award from seminary
for scripture mastery. During one of our recent lessons I asked him:
"Why do you want to be baptized?" And he said: "Because I want to go
to the Celestial kingdom."
AHHHHH. I was so happy/proud. He's so sincereeeee! At first, his
grandma wouldn't let him be baptized, but now she will. :) Julius
says it's because he prayed about it.
We also had a branch activity at the Lamberte house yesterday. The
Nanay (Mother) wanted to have company that day so she wouldn't be
lonely. So there were a ton of people there!! I showed everybody how
to play "Kini Kutsara" (This is a spoon) The spoon is passed around
until it catches the plate/bowl/etc that's passed around too like
this:
1: This is a plate. (Kini plato)
2: Ha?
1:This is a plate. (Kini plato)
2: Ah! A plate! (Ah! Plato!)
Then the plate is passed. But, the spoon is passed like this:
1:This is a spoon. (Kini Kutsara)
2: Ah! A spoon! (Ah! Kutsara!)
So the spoon is really fast. :)
The games are everyone's favorite part of FHE.~
I was also reading in Ether today (almost finished the Book of Mormon
:D) and I think I realized that my favorite story from the BoM is the
brother of Jared. <3 He trusted in the Lord so much and was so
righteous, that he saw the Lord and all the inhabitants of the earth.
(Ether 3:25-26)
--
~the end~
April 12, 2010 Hilongos Week 14
Eva~
Yay! CDs! :D Baby's favorite words is always "no". It's so easy to
say and defiant at the same time. And I think the ACT is more common
for the general populace of the United States than the SAT is. (And I
think it's easier. :O) Out of all the words to teach Elizabeth, you
taught her the word "Gentile"? o.O
Dad~
We always ride in put-puts! It's SUPER common and they're everywhere.
If New York had
this kind of cheap transportation, New York would be less fat and
there would more room on the streets and less pollution!
Jessie~
PICTURES. OF. SMILING. ZOEY. Gimme please?
ABBIE HOLDEN!~
Haha that'd be weird calling you Abbie. :O
Are you scared to walk alone now that you're back from your mission?
Is the first name thing weird karon?
And a bit of sad news...
Brother Lamberte died on April 9. We had the funeral service
yesterday. I feel sad that I never took a picture with him. Did you
ever take a picture with their family? I would probably like a copy
of it. :O
CONFERENCE!
We went to General Conference in Maasin, that city that we visit
occasionally because that is the "district building". We watched it
in English! <3 There was a separate room for Cebuano.
My favorites were Elder Packer's talk about the need of the Father at
the head of the family, Elder Holland, because he is always so to the
point, and the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson because his talks always want
me to do better. I do think that the Saturday sessions were my
favorite. I felt the Spirit, and I left the Saturday sessions feeling
like I could accomplish anything! At first we were sure if we were
allowed to go to the sessions or if we had to proselyte on Saturday
morning. So I'm so happy we got to go. <3 And I'm waiting anxiously
for the May issue of Liahona So I can make lots of notes :) (We get
the Liahona here... A subscription to the Liahona here is the
equivalent of about $1.75 for a year, but an Ensign subscription is
about $17.50 for a year. So the members get the Liahona and most of
them speak Cebuano anyway.) ;P
This keyboard that I'm writing on is weird because the buttons are all
wrong!! Where it's supposed to be an "a" there's a Q, and a W where
there's supposed to be an "s". But I'm okay because I don't have to
look at the keyboard to type! <3 Sister Malicdem wanted to switch
because of that. eh heheh.
Love you all!
How's your Book of Mormon reading going?
--
~the end~
April 5, 2010 Hilongos Week 13
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~