They need some frozen banana stands here. They'd make some way good money. It's starting to get hoott , but still bearable .. for now. So we came to Rosales today to come to a National Book Store because I need this English - Tagalog Dictionary that is legendary. It's part of a set and I bought the other one [ Tagalog - English ] because my trainer convinced me not to... gah mistake. I need it so bad , but they don't have it here! So I'll have to go to Dagupan next week... hold on someone just emailed. Oh .. it was you, Mom , ha.
Wait - Garrett's going to Cambodia!! Tell him to email me and tell me about it. And I can definitely see Mckenzie going to Taiwan.. That's a perfect match. But oh man , there is only one Cambodian class in the MTC and it's small. That's crazy ... that's an elite pick right there. That'll be so difficult to learn , but he'll be fine. Also 3 months in the MTC really is not a bad thing. Tell him that , please , ha. Many people are dying to get out but it's honestly an awesome awesome place.
So , back to the Philippines.
Yeah we're in Rosales right now (RO - SAUL - EZ) so I actually got to see E. Purcell here whose in my batch , which was coolio. Oh wait , I'll do Q's first. Ha.
1. Umm , they're off and on. I haven't gotten like raise my voice mad yet , but I've had to lovingly chastise. Um , I do not tolerate someone being disobedient. I'm not sure where that quality came from , I think I picked it up in the MTC from being companions with Elder Evert , but I do do do not tolerate disobedience. It's the quickest way to seeing someone's character. So when our curfew is 9 and my companion spends 25 minutes after a lesson chatting so that it's 7:30 when we get out , and then insists we go to a members house for 30 minutes until 8 , and then insists that we go home because it's now too late to teach anyone ... I get very angry. But again , not raise your voice angry. I just stated my opinion during nightly planning. But he also sleeps in sometimes , and allows ward missionaries in our apartment ... all things I will change. But... I think he is a genuinely nice guy. Again he's Filipino , and I'm not , so there's a barrier there. And he's not really as good in English as I am Tagalog , so sometimes it's hard to communicate. Because I might not know how to say something in Tagalog , but he doesn't know how to say it in English ... so , yeah. But again , I think he's a honestly nice guy and although he's not the most hard working elder there is.. and kind of trunky (despite only being out 9 or 10 months) I will change a lot of that.
2. Um , More drink packages ... they save me some money , but if they're pricey do not worry about it. Just .. ab roller. ASAP. please. Again , it's like my only exercise. That and pushups. I can't run because my companion doesn't want to run , and some I'm confined to the house. So there's only two things I can do.. effectively at least. But no clothes or anything like that , I'm all set I think. Especially ties , I'm good - thanks so much. OH! Very important. President Jensen says that when you send the package MAKE SURE YOU MARK IT AS ' GIFT ' , or else it's subject to further custom fees and stuff that the mission home will not pay. So yeah. But really kahit ano , just anything.
3. Yeah , our baptism last saturday! I'll get to that in my letter , but that family loves me haha. They're always like one day we'll come to New York and visit you! (I always say Taga New York ago [I'm from New York] because no filipino knows where Connecticut is.. haha. It's much easier , and it's close enough to be justified.) But them and this one ward missionary Franco. I like that kid a lot , the rest are kind of flimsy , but he's so reliable and I want him to go on a mission so bad. He just needs the money first ... :\
4. Um , I only see them on P-Days ( Mondays ) and District Meeting ( Tuesday ). Other than that I am the only American for miles and miles around...
OKAY! So back to my week. OH! And tell June I got no letter from her this week , and she's in trouble for that! But this week has been really challenging , but with a bunch of highlights. I can already tell this transfer will have a lot of ups and downs , and my companion will definitely test my patience. But like I said before , I do not tolerate disobedience. The problem is ... he's prideful .. in that he always tries to justify his disobedience and when he does patronizes me and talks down to me like he has so much experience ... gah. But I know I'll be a lot better for it after these next couple or few transfers (I'm prophesying that I'll be in Malimpec for two or three transfers more , so maybe I'll transfer out in May or June.) But one good thing is that my Tagalog really is improving , so I can thank him for that... because when we talk we talk in Tagalog , so every day I use it so so much. That's another thing , though , it gets me down sometimes. I've got to keep looking up but it really is hard some days. I get in ruts from time to time and it's hard to dig myself out. BUT! It's only temporary.
so.. my week. Um , highlights. Thursday we gave a baptismal date to two girls in this family we're teaching , which is awesome. The father is a less active member , but the mom isn't a member yet. Previously it was difficult to get them baptized because she had a previous husband , and they are not married yet. But the husband died two years ago , so they can be married now ... but they won't. Because they're receiving benefits because her previous husband worked for the government or something? I don't really know , it's not all that clear. But I just know it'll take some serious convincing to get them married. But they have 4 girls and 2 or 4 boys , not really sure some work in Manila. So we are striving to baptize the 4 girls first , then the mom and boys. Other than that Monday - Friday were pretty routine. Nothing besides lessons and headaches from Tagalog , haha. It really is so hard to live somewhere where you have no translator and people are speaking a million miles per hour at you and you're trying your best to understand.... But at this point I can hold a conversation without too too too much struggle and I'm enjoying that. The thing is if they just slowed down I'd understand every word... but my brain is really starting to decipher the different words , so I'm very grateful for that.
But the real highlight was saturday! My first person I've baptized in my mission! And it was awesome. I think I've told you about her before , Sister Tulagan. But previously she wasn't interested , but I came into the mission and BAM! Baptized! She's so so nice and feeds us every time we go over. That's the family that says they want to come visit me , haha. But I'll be really sad to leave them when I do. But the baptism was so awesome. Took me about 30 minutes earlier in the day to clean all of the floating spiders and stuff out of the water , because apparently they didn't really clean the font too well before filling it up. But! I said the right wooorrdsss and it was so so awesome to perform a baptism. Oh man , so so awesome!! Haha. Elder Danao confirmed her the next day , and now she is a member of the truuueee church! So stoked. After her baptism she gave a short testimony and started tearing up so quick into it. This woman is so awesome. Anyways I took pictures , so I'll load those up next week because I didn't bring my cord todaayyy , sorry sorry.
Anyways that's been my week and my update for now. Not too much else has been going on. But a couple more things. First off - I'm 99% positive I saw a ' Vote for Pedro ' Napoleon Dynamite tshirt the other day. Also can you please please email me a picture of the family? As recent as you can , and preferably one that doesn't show off the house or yard or anything. Because ... they already think every American is rich , so I would really love to break down that barrier as quick as possible. Also please tell Grandma that I'm sending her a letter today , so probably expect that in like 3 weeks to a month ... hopefully!
Alright , I think that's all. Love you all! Talk to you next week! Also so weaaakkk on emails this week. One from Mom , I think that was it. Thank ya momma!
- Elder A. White
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