Hello
The rest of the flights were great. On the way to Manila I sat by a Filipino, I practiced my Tagalog with him and ended up teaching him about the church. He is a Muslim from the south but now lives in Manila. I got his referral. Manila was so hot and humid when we got there it was crazy. I was so so thirsty we also had to pay like 100 each for our bags because they were only supposed to be like 15 kilos. Then on the flight to Bacolod I sat next to this philipino who was catholic and he just started talking to me about the differences of our churches. I was able to teach him the restoration in English. He was interested but thought it was weird to give me a referral so unfortunately I didn't get one.
Then once we got to Bacolod we met the mission president and the Assistants. We drove to Bacolod city and stayed in a hotel because the mission home is being worked on. The food at the hotel was really good just like chicken, rice, meat, and stuff. Then we went to the church and had meetings with President Tobias. Then the next day we had orientation. It was good. Then we stayed at the hotel again. We ate KFC at the church earlier and had another good
meal that night.
Then the next day we found out our trainers and where we are serving. My companion is Elder Natural. He is a Filipino who is done with his mission in July. We are assigned to the Canloan area in the San Carlos Zone on the northeast side of the island. They speak Cebuano there or bisayan. They are really similar I guess so the dictionary Connor gave me was inspired. It is kind of hard though because now I have to learn a new language. Tagalog will help me learn it faster but all the words are different. The sentence structure is similar though. It is an area up in the mountains by the volcano. It is a small area with dirt roads mainly. People mainly ride around on dirtbikes and motorcycles or those tricycle cart things. It was so awesome on the bus ride from Bacolod it took three hours but was a beautiful drive. I had a good view of the ocean and the sunset looked like a work of art. It is like Hawaii here, a bunch of green trees everywhere and sugar and rice fields. It was funny when we arrived with my two bigs bags, we got a ride on the motorcycle and they put our bags on top on the rocky dirt road. There is no way that would fly back home.
Our home is nice. A lot better than I expected. It has two floors but isn't very big. It is pretty clean though, no cockroaches or huge spiders or rats, i guess those are closer to the volcano. There are little geckos in our home though. Showering with a bucket is nice and refreshing even though the water is cold, and don't worry I bought toilet paper. Anyway, the first day we went and taught a Sister and her family who was getting baptized the next day. They had a one room bamboo hut and we all sat in a circle. I prayed and bore testimony in Tagalog. They understand it but don't speak it so I need to learn Bisaya. They are really nice people here though. We have been teaching a lot. I am doing my best to learn the language. I can bear simple testimony, but I have also used Tagalog and English. I am surprised by how much English they know. A lot of them are really good. They sang their Hymns in English at church and the sacrament was in English but they taught in Bisaya. My companion speaks English.
Also I had Mcdonalds back in Bacolod but here there isn't fast food. I mainly eat rice with fish or meat. The Sister we taught ended up being baptized in a nearby
river because the water wasn't working at the church. It was cool we had to hike across the river jumping on rocks. The members were really nice at church. I have a little notebook where I write down all the words I learn, and that they teach me. The ward fed us lunch on Sunday.
We are focusing on rescueing less actives and part member family on our mission. We aren't allowed to tract. We have a list of people that we go see and we find new investigators on the way, we have gotten two new ones since I have been here that seem interested. When we walk around to teach we go on little trials to get to peoples homes, it is like a hike, my shoes are all dirty. Also we had to drop off these other Elders at their apartment one day. We rode a bus down
the mountain, it was a curvy windy road, it looked like the road to Hana. It was great.
But anyway, it is really hot here and it is supposed to be cool up in the mountain but I am always moist. It is good though, I am trying my best to learn the language so I can help with the lessons but I have been able to help from the things I have learned in the MTC to tell my companion what to say or what to teach or what to read. Anyway, I have to go I love you all and hope all is well. Also when I teach I feel great because I know we have the truth
and the people need this.
Love Elder Mifflin aka Nature Man
No comments:
Post a Comment