May 24, 2010 Hilongos Week 20

Jessie~ I'm so glad you added me to your blog list! :) Now I can hear everything going on with you! Yay IAN! I'm so excited for your new job! :D

Cyrena!~ I got your letter that you sent! :P If you want, it's faster to email now than to use. My companion, Sis. Malicdem says hi! And she wants to be your friend too. :)

I received my "special surprise" from Nanoy's brother this week. :) Sister Malicdem laughed when she saw they were gummy candies. She says they're for kids, but she ate them anyway! (She must be a 5 year old in disguise). And I got a nice letter from Cyrena and Sister Baker. :)

I opened my email this afternoon and heard that I have a new nephew!! Yay! :) I wondered why there was no email from Eva this week, she was a little busy apparently in the Hospital. ;)

I've decided to start using the washboard again when I do laundry. I'd rather not have scars/sores all over my hands from trying to only use my hands.

Work in Hilongos is coming along as usual. We were able to get the standard of excellence for RCLA, Recent Converts and Less active lessons, which is missionary lessons taught to members. As a result, we got to meet several members that I've never met until now. Even though I've been here for (a while) we never looked them up. I also really want to update the member list that we have in the apartment. Several members have moved or have special circumstances that would be good to know.

CEBU TEMPLE DEDICATION IS JUNE 13!! :D

We have a new investigator this week. He's been to America before so he really insisted on speaking English. Turns out he wants to be baptized ASAP because he thinks the church (or me o.O) can help him get to America. We think he probably has a small problem mentally, so we're just going to see if he comes to church...

Oh and a put-put driver tried to rip me off again on the fare price. So yea, same old same old. :P I explained what happened to a member and he said: "Sometimes they see white people and think: 'Portahan'" Meaning door. Door to money?

I think being on a mission has helped me a lot though with perspective on life. I meet all kinds of families in lots of situations. I realize how fortunate I am in lots of ways.

Thanks for all the love and support from home.

How's your Book of Mormon reading going?
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~the end~

May 17, 2010 Hilongos Week 19

I've included some pictures of our trip to the caves here in Hilongos. There are a lot of bats there! (It smells!) And on the way, we saw lots of monkeys!!

I also included a picture of Julius, our recent convert. He really wanted to speak at Agnes' baptism, but had a really bad fever this week! :( It was so sad seeing him lying on a bed and barely being able to speak. He's usually so perky.

News: I am staying in Hilongos for at least one more transfer (just like you wanted, Eva :P) Now I get to see the baptisms of our investigators this month!! :) Christopher and Janice are an interesting couple here. When we taught them, Tupe (Chris's nickname) was immediately touched in his heart. Even though at the time, I couldn't understand what he was saying, I could tell that he meant he felt something in his heart (burning bosom, methinks?). He's been progressing ever since. He even reads the Gospel Principles manual and looks up all the references in it back to the Book of Mormon!! Janice has come a long way from before. It's funny how I always feel surprised at investigator's answers when we have the interview preparatory for baptism. They couldn't be baptized at first, because they are in a "live-in" situation. Here in the Philippines its VERY difficult to get an annulment. (There are no divorces) Mostly because annulments are expensive and lengthy. So it's quite common to have a married (but separated) person living with a new partner. Because of that, they couldn't be baptized at first. But because they've been attending church for a while, and have the intent to stay together as a family, they can be baptized. (But they cannot go to the temple :[)

We had a CSP (Community service project) this last Saturday. We went around the main street and removed election posters that had been put up. Elections were this last May 10. Apparently the new Philippines president is Noynoy Alquino? The street looks alot less commercialized now. :)

Reasons I am now a Filipina:
1) My favorite sud-an (rice topping) right now is fried fish. So plain and simple and yummy! It's way different than fried fish in america. They take the whole fish (because its only about 6 inches long) and salt it, and cook it in oil until its crunchy! Eat it with soy sauce / vinegar!!
2) I am now much more brown than before. Literally. Because of the CSP we had recently, I was able to get a very large amount of sun.

3) My hair is longer now. The standard for long hair here is MUCH longer than in America. And of course, that re-bond (straight perm) that I had a while ago helps. The beauty here is white skin, tall nose, black and very straight hair.

I'm continuing to memorize scripture mastery scriptures right now. It's actually a LOT more easier than I thought it would be. Maybe there's a certain special gift for learning that comes with the missionary calling.

Alma 41:10 Wickedness never was Happiness

2 Nep 28:7-9 Eat drink and be merrry = foolish doctrine

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~the end~

May 10, 2010 Hilongos Week 18

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~
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~the end~

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
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~the end~

Hilongos Week 16 PICTURES

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!

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~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)

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~the end~