September 25, 2011
Another week gone and here I am again emailing all of you. Does anyone else feel like the time is just flying away? I swear it was just yesterday I sat down and emailed all of you and now here I am again. One of these days, I'm not going to get to sit down on Monday and email everyone about my adventures as a missionary. That day, unfortunately, is approaching far faster than I would like it too.
One of my most unique experiences this week was a quick trip to Iloilo. My current companion injured her back several months ago when she fell really hard on the tile flooring in the Oton apartment (my current companion and I both have the same previous area). This injury is still causing her a great deal of pain, so we went down to Iloilo for a day to have her back checked again to see what might be the cause. This meant two bus rides in a single day, each 2.5 hours. It was pretty fun stuff, but definitely left us both feeling very car sick. Now- for the adventures that occurred in between the two bus rides.
We left at 8 in the morning so that we would get to the city as early as possible. The morning was bright and sunny and looked like we would have perfect weather the whole day. We eventually showed up in Iloilo and visited the office so that we could work out some reimbursements we both needed. Next, we enjoyed an amazing lunch at the mission presidents house. Sister McBride is allergic to both sugar and MSG, making fast-food restaurants off-limits. So instead, the amazing wife of our mission president cooked us lunch and then we headed off to the doctor. We learned that Sister McBride may have to go to Manila to have her back treated and we are currently waiting for more information about that. Then, we got to tack a trip to the grocery store in SM City, a large mall in the area. This trip was approved due to the allergies mentioned earlier. The grocery store in the mall has several imported foods that don't contain msg or sugar, so my companion is able to eat them. We had lots of fun finding all the health foods and looking through the imported cookies to find ones without sugar. We then headed back to the station for the bus ride home.
The bus ride home was probably the most unique part of the day. It started off with me sitting beside a nice old man and we began talking about the Restoration of the Gospel. Suddenly, I learned that he was a member of a church called Iglesia ni Cristo. This surprised me a great deal because they are generally very stand-offish and don't talk religion with us. In fact, this was the first time I had met a member of that church who was willing to talk to me. The conversation turned to the Book of Mormon and I pulled out my Hiligaynon copy and offered it to Brother Dalipe (that's his name). He was absolutely stunned that I would be willing to give him my book for free. He took it and flipped through it saying, "Basahon ko ini, basi matunan ko damo" (I will read this, maybe I will learn a lot). I bore testimony that I knew he would learn a lot and told him to talk to the Elders where he lived if he ever had any questions about what he was reading. He was such a sweet old guy. As the bus started to empty out, the conductor decided to come back and talk to my companion and I. He was nice, but really silly too. Sister McBride, wanting to know how much longer we had till we reached San Jose, asked him where we were. His response was, "Sa bukid" (in the mountains). To which she replied, "Gani, diin sa bukid" (of course, where in the mountains). He said, "Sa tunga, nakita mo? may bukid didto kag may bukid didto" (in the middle, there is a mountain there and there is a mountain there) saying all of this as he points out the windows to the dark mountains on either side. We finally arrived in San Jose and went to climb off the bus to discover that our box of healthy food was gone and in it's place was a box that definitely wasn't ours. As Sister McBride describes it she went into "serious mode" and got names and phone numbers and a promise that if the box wasn't found the bus company would reimburse us for it. Fortunately, the box arrived the next day and we were informed that a lady in the bukid was very happy to have her box back. We were also very happy to have our box back.
So- that's the most exciting part of our week. Other than that, just typical life as a missionary. Oh- and it's raining again. One of the wonderful things about rain in San Jose is that the road outside of our house turns into a river whenever it rains. Isn't life fun!
Palangga Ko Kamo!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
I Love SJA
September 18, 2011
SJA= San Jose A, my current area here in the Antique Zone. And I love it. I still miss Oton, but it's definitely getting easier not to miss it every day.
Why do I love SJA? Lots and Lots of reasons.
First, it's absolutely beautiful. It's quite and peaceful and very different from my first two areas. Jaro was right on the edge of Iloilo and was very big and busy all the time. Oton was a little further out of the city, and a much smaller town. As a result, it was cute and quaint and had no grocery store or fast food chains because you could just go into the city if you wanted any of that. San Jose is the middle ground. It has the feeling of being a small town where the people are spread out and the streets are only two lanes wide. It's also far enough away from Iloilo that it has it's own mall, restaurants, ect. so that what we need is easy to find.
Next, the people. They are so sweet. And that both refers to the current missionaries I'm serving with and to the people who live here. My current companion is Sister McBride, and we get along really well. Meal times have consisted of more laughter than eating. We also both have really strong desires to get the area strong and progressing. A few months ago, she injured her back, but she still is excited to work and won't let anything get in her way. We sometimes have to take time out of our days for physical therapy, but as soon as it's over- we are back on the streets helping share the gospel to the world. The other missionaries in the apartment consist of my "nanay" or trainer- and it's way awesome to be housemates with her again. Her companion, Sister Puig, is also super sweet and joins in to all the jokes and silly things we come up with.
The members are really nice and have a great desire to do good. The deaf members are particularly sweet. They love teaching people how to communicate with them and are always excited to spend time with us. Their sign language is a little different from ASL, which only makes them more excited to talk to me. They teach me a sign and then immediately ask if it's the same in ASL. They also have super good memories. They use the ASL signs they've learned from me when the talk to me and the PSL (Philippine sign language) when they talk to each other.
Last, I love San Jose just because it's San Jose. It's nothing like my first two areas. It has it's own perks and problems, it's own joys and challenges. And it already has it's own memories, distinct and unique from anywhere else. I will always remember San Jose as the place my companion and I tried to teach the two Filipino sisters how to speak English with a British accent. It will always stand out as being the apartment where the sink got clogged and we discovered it was because my companions sock was down the drain. It's where I'm meant to be today, despite all that I left behind (which happens to include my camera and my alarm clock, but no worries- my previous companion is sending them to me). Isn't life fun!
Palangga Ko Kamo!
SJA= San Jose A, my current area here in the Antique Zone. And I love it. I still miss Oton, but it's definitely getting easier not to miss it every day.
Why do I love SJA? Lots and Lots of reasons.
First, it's absolutely beautiful. It's quite and peaceful and very different from my first two areas. Jaro was right on the edge of Iloilo and was very big and busy all the time. Oton was a little further out of the city, and a much smaller town. As a result, it was cute and quaint and had no grocery store or fast food chains because you could just go into the city if you wanted any of that. San Jose is the middle ground. It has the feeling of being a small town where the people are spread out and the streets are only two lanes wide. It's also far enough away from Iloilo that it has it's own mall, restaurants, ect. so that what we need is easy to find.
Next, the people. They are so sweet. And that both refers to the current missionaries I'm serving with and to the people who live here. My current companion is Sister McBride, and we get along really well. Meal times have consisted of more laughter than eating. We also both have really strong desires to get the area strong and progressing. A few months ago, she injured her back, but she still is excited to work and won't let anything get in her way. We sometimes have to take time out of our days for physical therapy, but as soon as it's over- we are back on the streets helping share the gospel to the world. The other missionaries in the apartment consist of my "nanay" or trainer- and it's way awesome to be housemates with her again. Her companion, Sister Puig, is also super sweet and joins in to all the jokes and silly things we come up with.
The members are really nice and have a great desire to do good. The deaf members are particularly sweet. They love teaching people how to communicate with them and are always excited to spend time with us. Their sign language is a little different from ASL, which only makes them more excited to talk to me. They teach me a sign and then immediately ask if it's the same in ASL. They also have super good memories. They use the ASL signs they've learned from me when the talk to me and the PSL (Philippine sign language) when they talk to each other.
Last, I love San Jose just because it's San Jose. It's nothing like my first two areas. It has it's own perks and problems, it's own joys and challenges. And it already has it's own memories, distinct and unique from anywhere else. I will always remember San Jose as the place my companion and I tried to teach the two Filipino sisters how to speak English with a British accent. It will always stand out as being the apartment where the sink got clogged and we discovered it was because my companions sock was down the drain. It's where I'm meant to be today, despite all that I left behind (which happens to include my camera and my alarm clock, but no worries- my previous companion is sending them to me). Isn't life fun!
Palangga Ko Kamo!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Walking Away
September 11, 2011
To be totally honest, this week went from hard to heart breaking, and then picked up at the end to be a pretty decent. It was probably the longest week of my mission from Monday to Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday flew by faster than I can blink. Here's the day by day experiences:
Monday: A fairly typical p-day consisting of laundry, writing letters, and doing grocery shopping. Upon getting home we were greeted by all the sisters who were preparing to go home that week (the spend the nights at our house on Monday and Tuesday Night). Their desire and excitement to go home filled the house with a tangible weight that caused the hours to drag on. They also had the mindset of being done with their missions and stressed about luggage weights, so they stayed up late reorganizing stuff. I have trouble sleeping when people are wandering around the house.
Tuesday: Started off with the same heavy weight and an additional exhaustion due to a lack of effective sleep. We went to a district meeting as a tatlo (3) because the other companionship in our apartment had a sister who was going home so she was at the "going away workshops" all day. Her companion, who always tries her best to be cheerful, was very sad because it was her favorite companion and having a companion go home is just difficult. In addition, the work was a bit more difficult. Most of our appointments weren't home, so despite trying our hardest, we didn't have very many lessons.
Wednesday: The sisters who were going home finally went home, we helped them drag their suitcases out to the street where the elders packed them into the van, then went back to being missionaries. This day, like Tuesday, was difficult for the work and we were working as a tatlo for the whole day, making lessons longer but making conversations fun. We made plans as a trisome for the transfer ahead of us because we heard a rumor that the three of us were staying in the area and the two areas were being combined (three sisters went home, no new ones came, so some areas had to be combined for the transfer). Wednesday ended with the text that I wished I never received: Transfer announcements informing me that I was leaving the area. Only two transfers- two transfers with amazing companions and lots of hard work and lots of success that I was excited to see in the third transfer, and I was told I wasn't going to get it. Completely heartbreaking, especially as I realized that most of those investigators who I had grown to be good friends wouldn't be visited again the next day and I wouldn't get a chance to say good bye. I was terrified as well, knowing that with that transfer and who else was transferring- I was probably going to Antique, one of the areas with a different language. It was very very hard to sleep that night. After everything I'd worked for, I was being asked to walk away, and I really didn't think I could do it.
Thursday: The morning consisted of packing, and stressing. The afternoon was another fall-through day where we didn't get to visit any investigators except for one, who started balling when I told her that I was leaving. We instead visited members to let them know I was leaving and doing are best to find new investigators for the next sisters to teach. Thursday night was once again sleepless as I stressed about what I hadn't finished packing and wondered what the next transfer would bring.
Friday: Transfer day. I learned I was in fact going to Antique. Spent 2 and a half hours on a bus stressing about going to Antique, and trying to hold back tears as the bus passed through Oton and I said a silent good bye to that wonderful town. Yet I was filled with a sure sense that I was really needed where I was going. I knew somehow that the work that needed to be done where I was going was something that I really needed to do. I also learned from other missionaries that Karay-a wasn't too difficult to learn and that most people there know Hiligaynon, a great comfort.
Saturday: First full day in the area. My new companion, Sister McBride, is amazing and we've got great goals for the weeks ahead of us. Though transferring was difficult and heartbreaking, I've been blessed with a great area and a great companion and we've got lots of work we are excited to do this transfer.
Sunday: Meeting members, attending church, and having an opportunity to remember my ASL because there are a lot of very strong members here who are deaf, they are so fun and have such a strong spirit. The days are speeding up again and I'm trying to work my hardest to keep up as they fly past.
Crazy week, huh?
To be totally honest, this week went from hard to heart breaking, and then picked up at the end to be a pretty decent. It was probably the longest week of my mission from Monday to Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday flew by faster than I can blink. Here's the day by day experiences:
Monday: A fairly typical p-day consisting of laundry, writing letters, and doing grocery shopping. Upon getting home we were greeted by all the sisters who were preparing to go home that week (the spend the nights at our house on Monday and Tuesday Night). Their desire and excitement to go home filled the house with a tangible weight that caused the hours to drag on. They also had the mindset of being done with their missions and stressed about luggage weights, so they stayed up late reorganizing stuff. I have trouble sleeping when people are wandering around the house.
Tuesday: Started off with the same heavy weight and an additional exhaustion due to a lack of effective sleep. We went to a district meeting as a tatlo (3) because the other companionship in our apartment had a sister who was going home so she was at the "going away workshops" all day. Her companion, who always tries her best to be cheerful, was very sad because it was her favorite companion and having a companion go home is just difficult. In addition, the work was a bit more difficult. Most of our appointments weren't home, so despite trying our hardest, we didn't have very many lessons.
Wednesday: The sisters who were going home finally went home, we helped them drag their suitcases out to the street where the elders packed them into the van, then went back to being missionaries. This day, like Tuesday, was difficult for the work and we were working as a tatlo for the whole day, making lessons longer but making conversations fun. We made plans as a trisome for the transfer ahead of us because we heard a rumor that the three of us were staying in the area and the two areas were being combined (three sisters went home, no new ones came, so some areas had to be combined for the transfer). Wednesday ended with the text that I wished I never received: Transfer announcements informing me that I was leaving the area. Only two transfers- two transfers with amazing companions and lots of hard work and lots of success that I was excited to see in the third transfer, and I was told I wasn't going to get it. Completely heartbreaking, especially as I realized that most of those investigators who I had grown to be good friends wouldn't be visited again the next day and I wouldn't get a chance to say good bye. I was terrified as well, knowing that with that transfer and who else was transferring- I was probably going to Antique, one of the areas with a different language. It was very very hard to sleep that night. After everything I'd worked for, I was being asked to walk away, and I really didn't think I could do it.
Thursday: The morning consisted of packing, and stressing. The afternoon was another fall-through day where we didn't get to visit any investigators except for one, who started balling when I told her that I was leaving. We instead visited members to let them know I was leaving and doing are best to find new investigators for the next sisters to teach. Thursday night was once again sleepless as I stressed about what I hadn't finished packing and wondered what the next transfer would bring.
Friday: Transfer day. I learned I was in fact going to Antique. Spent 2 and a half hours on a bus stressing about going to Antique, and trying to hold back tears as the bus passed through Oton and I said a silent good bye to that wonderful town. Yet I was filled with a sure sense that I was really needed where I was going. I knew somehow that the work that needed to be done where I was going was something that I really needed to do. I also learned from other missionaries that Karay-a wasn't too difficult to learn and that most people there know Hiligaynon, a great comfort.
Saturday: First full day in the area. My new companion, Sister McBride, is amazing and we've got great goals for the weeks ahead of us. Though transferring was difficult and heartbreaking, I've been blessed with a great area and a great companion and we've got lots of work we are excited to do this transfer.
Sunday: Meeting members, attending church, and having an opportunity to remember my ASL because there are a lot of very strong members here who are deaf, they are so fun and have such a strong spirit. The days are speeding up again and I'm trying to work my hardest to keep up as they fly past.
Crazy week, huh?
Sunday, September 4, 2011
The Pass Along Card & Sunny!
Sept 4, 2011
I know that the Lord is always watching over the work that we are doing and guiding us. This week, however, I was privileged to see his guidance in small ways that really made a big difference.
Thursday morning started like any other morning, but we decided to make a quick trip to the mission office to pick up some needed supplies that couldn't wait till Tuesday (our district meeting). We came in, asked for our mail, picked up some pamphlets written in Tagalog to give to people, and headed back out. As we walked past the door, I felt this strange desire to grab a few of the English pass-along cards and put them in my bag. (a pass-along card is a card with a short message and the churches website on it, sometimes including information about the Book of Mormon or other church videos.) I knew we had some at home and I didn't really need any, but I shoved them in my bag before we headed out to work. As the day ran it's course, I didn't think again about the cards sitting in the bottom of my bag.
That evening, we hopped on a jeepnee to head home, a successful day of work over. To my surprise, I sat across from an individual almost as white as me. Following habit, I said Maayong Gabi (good evening), to which he responded, "Thanks, I'm fine, How are you?" I then continued to talk with this individual, a man from Belgium touring the Philippines, trying my hardest to make sure I only spoke English, it's surprisingly difficult sometimes. I felt a great desire to give him a pamphlet, but realized they were all in Tagalog. In fact, the only things I could think of in my bag that was in English were my personal scriptures and the letters that I had received that morning. Then I remembered the pass-along card. I was able to pull it out of my bag, explain it to the individual, and he said it sounded really interesting and he would make sure to visit the site. Then we reached our destination and hopped of the jeepnee. I'm so glad I followed that simple prompting to grab a pass-along card that morning.
Guess What! This week was sunny! It didn't rain all week... okay, well, it actually sprinkled a little bit yesterday, but other than that it didn't rain all week. It was cool.
Other than the weather, which I'm sure you are all tired of hearing about, this week was pretty great. Though also fairly difficult. This is the traditional pattern for weeks in the life of a missionary, but every week is worth it anyways. One of the most interesting things about this week has been the fact that it was the last week of one of my housemates. The last week of a housemate is somewhat difficult. They have a tendency to talk a lot about going home which gets one thinking about what they will do when they go home. But I've tried my best to remain constantly focused and worry about going home when that happens, which isn't till next year so I've got lotsa time left. (at least that's what I'm telling myself because I don't really want my mission to end, it's far to much fun). This week's also been interesting as we've waited for the transfer announcements, which we haven't yet received. I don't feel like I'm transferring, but really- anything goes so I'm not sure what might happen in the future, maybe next week I'll be telling everyone about my new area, maybe I'll just tell more stories about Oton.
Love you all!
Halong!
I know that the Lord is always watching over the work that we are doing and guiding us. This week, however, I was privileged to see his guidance in small ways that really made a big difference.
Thursday morning started like any other morning, but we decided to make a quick trip to the mission office to pick up some needed supplies that couldn't wait till Tuesday (our district meeting). We came in, asked for our mail, picked up some pamphlets written in Tagalog to give to people, and headed back out. As we walked past the door, I felt this strange desire to grab a few of the English pass-along cards and put them in my bag. (a pass-along card is a card with a short message and the churches website on it, sometimes including information about the Book of Mormon or other church videos.) I knew we had some at home and I didn't really need any, but I shoved them in my bag before we headed out to work. As the day ran it's course, I didn't think again about the cards sitting in the bottom of my bag.
That evening, we hopped on a jeepnee to head home, a successful day of work over. To my surprise, I sat across from an individual almost as white as me. Following habit, I said Maayong Gabi (good evening), to which he responded, "Thanks, I'm fine, How are you?" I then continued to talk with this individual, a man from Belgium touring the Philippines, trying my hardest to make sure I only spoke English, it's surprisingly difficult sometimes. I felt a great desire to give him a pamphlet, but realized they were all in Tagalog. In fact, the only things I could think of in my bag that was in English were my personal scriptures and the letters that I had received that morning. Then I remembered the pass-along card. I was able to pull it out of my bag, explain it to the individual, and he said it sounded really interesting and he would make sure to visit the site. Then we reached our destination and hopped of the jeepnee. I'm so glad I followed that simple prompting to grab a pass-along card that morning.
Guess What! This week was sunny! It didn't rain all week... okay, well, it actually sprinkled a little bit yesterday, but other than that it didn't rain all week. It was cool.
Other than the weather, which I'm sure you are all tired of hearing about, this week was pretty great. Though also fairly difficult. This is the traditional pattern for weeks in the life of a missionary, but every week is worth it anyways. One of the most interesting things about this week has been the fact that it was the last week of one of my housemates. The last week of a housemate is somewhat difficult. They have a tendency to talk a lot about going home which gets one thinking about what they will do when they go home. But I've tried my best to remain constantly focused and worry about going home when that happens, which isn't till next year so I've got lotsa time left. (at least that's what I'm telling myself because I don't really want my mission to end, it's far to much fun). This week's also been interesting as we've waited for the transfer announcements, which we haven't yet received. I don't feel like I'm transferring, but really- anything goes so I'm not sure what might happen in the future, maybe next week I'll be telling everyone about my new area, maybe I'll just tell more stories about Oton.
Love you all!
Halong!
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