After many trials and errors, I think I am just going to do drive attachments from now on because that is way easier to deal with. Dota 2 is a really big thing here and I don't really know why. I'm sure Chris would enjoy it here. It's been a while since my last email and a lot has happened. It is beautiful here in the Philippines! I love it here!
Saturday: This was my last p-day and I went to the temple with my district which was a cool experience to go in a different country. The mangoes here are awesome and I got one because you know, they're awesome! We had a Christmas devotional talking about the Light the World campaign and a choir came and preformed.
Sunday: Sundays in the MTC's are interesting to say the least. We had sacrament meeting with the entire MTC and then went to our other meetings. We took some pictures at the temple and then watched the movie, Mountain of the Lord. Brother Ashton came and spoke to us as well.
Monday: We had a devotional with President Carlos and it was pretty good. We played a lot of jeopardy in class. We did government stuff so we don't get detained. All that good stuff.
Tuesday: We packed today because we found out we would be leaving tonight on a bus instead of in the morning by plane so that was interesting. I ate balut for dinner. It was pretty good. We had a devotional by Pres. and Sister Carlos about how to be a successful missionary. We said our goodbyes which were hard because it was like saying bye to a second family. Then we got on a bus to drive all through the night up to Laoag and get there in the morning.
Wednesday: We got to the bus station and were greeted by President Peterson and the AP's. We had some get to know you meetings and then met our trainers. Elder Tuiaki is my trainer and he is awesome! I had an interview with President and I really like him. He is so great. We went to our area with 2 sisters (Sister Barriga and Sister Gibbon). Our apartment is interesting as you can see from my pictures. We went out and talked to people for the rest of the day so I was super tired by the end of the day. I didn't sleep much on the bus. There is a girl that we visited who was baptized only recently and has already read the Book of Mormon 3 times! She is so cool!
Thursday: My memory with names doesn't seem to translate to Tagalog names because I met so many people today but I only remember Justin who we didn't even get to meet with. We are trying to get his baptismal date solid though so we will keep trying. Most of the day was spent getting to know my companion, meeting members, and trying to talk to other people. We walked by the church and went in and I was able to help the branch president figure out how to print off temporary recommends for their temple trip. I don't know why but every time I try to eat, my stomach locks up so I have to pray just to have help to eat some food and even then it is not as much as I know I could eat. It kind of bugs me but I am trying to figure it out.
Friday: We had a brown out today so the power was out until around 2 in the afternoon which was so bad since we were out most of the day but at the same time it was kind of annoying. We keep getting fed by people here. I'm not mad at all because it is good food but it just surprises me because it doesn't really matter if it is a member or not, they will still feed us. People keep telling me things like, oh, I'll tell you that story when you are fluent because it is too hard to speak in English, and I just sit there and laugh because I understand because it is really hard for me to speak any Tagalog to any of them! We had dinner at the branch president's house and he is a really funny guy.
Saturday: Today was our far day and by that I mean that we traveled to our farthest areas today to visit them. We taught a blind lady then we visited this old man who has become less active because he is super sick and we were able to give him a blessing and of course, me being the newbie, I was the one that gave the blessing. My companion and I talked about blessings for a while afterward and I talked about the blessings I gave to my Mom and Dad before I left. I was looking down as we were walking and I was surprised to see a shadow! You may be thinking, Steve, You are in the Philippines, of course you are going to have a shadow. Let me tell you the kicker, it was at night! The moon is so bright here that you have a shadow as you walk at night. It is so beautiful!
Sunday: We went to church and I was finally able to use my piano books my Mom sent me because I played a little bit before the meetings started. Mostly today was God helping me to realize why I was here. That's pretty much it!
I love you all!
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