Hi From The Philippines!
Made it to the Philippines! Long couple of travel days but so glad to be here! The first day here was so many emotions. We landed here at 5am and as soon as we stepped off the plane the humidity hit you and you instantly become so sweaty. Some vans picked us up and we went straight to the mission home, had breakfast and some long introduction meetings with all the new missionaries. Then our trainers came in and we ate lunch and then went straight to our area! I'm currently in the Quezon City South area and my trainer is Sister Domingo who is from the Philippines. Luckily she has perfect English. We came to our tiny apartment, and I got upacked for like 30 min and then we went to a lesson. I thought I knew Tagalog but it turns out I don't. I sat in our first lesson with a 19 year old boy named Khiro and sat there like a weird shy person who didn't say a word. I bore the most simple testimony at the end that probably didn't make sense haha. Then we went and knocked on some doors. (Well.. fun fact you don't actually knock on doors. You just stand outside and yell Tao po, which means person! And then wait for someone to let you in) Anyway, that was the longest day ever and I was so jet lagged and so much culture shock but I'm doing way better now and slowly getting the hang of things!
The next day we had some more lessons and I would memorize the Invitation we would give to our friends and then say that when Sister Domingo gave me the cue. And then I also bear my testimony at the end as well and sometimes give the prayer.
On Sunday the bishop asked me to bear my testimony in sacrament so that was scary. I did it half in Tagalog half in English. Luckily most members understand English. They can't speak it very well but they understand it. Church was super good Even though I didn't understand the language, I can understand the spirit and still feel that! Shout-out to mamma Sadie for reminding me of that.
Fun facts:
-There's a typhoon here right now so there's been soooo much rain which is kinda fun.
-We bought chicken at the market yesterday and there are just raw pieces of chicken sitting out in the heat and then you tell the worker what you want and he grabs it, cuts it, and weighs it with his bare hand and then grabs your money with that same hand haha. Gross.
-RICE RICE RICE. For breakfast lunch and dinner. And even at McDonald's.
-Mice, snakes, and cockroaches everywhere. Luckily no spiders yet.
-People are crazy drivers here. And also you just cross the road whenever you feel like it. We will be next to a super busy street and my companion will just start walking out into the road haha. It's like real life crossy road and I feel like I'm gonna get hit by a car every time.
-Also the mangos here are bomb
Okay sorry for the long email most of you probably didn't make it down this far haha but if you did… This church is true and missionary work is amazing and the gift of tongues is so real. There is no way I could even kinda bear my testimony without the gift of tongues. As hard as this is, there is nowhere else I'd rather be! Ingat!
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