so my main concern is that Halo 4 is already out and i'm not playing it. when i get home i'm gonna be all on that. other than that, there are a few more days left... 23 to be exact. so i am just feeling the effects. still hard working, just very excited. for instance, i've been having dreams about flying home and arriving home and playing halo 4. stuff like that. real talk.
in the next few weeks i'll probably write some sentimental farewell Philippines talk and write it on my blog but it's not about saying goodbye, it's the time you spent together that counts. other than that, i'm out.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
November 5, 2012
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN dododo dododdodododododd oododdodoodododododo dododoodododood odododdoododododododdoodod IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
well that means it's the final countdown. as in, the time is far spent there is one month remaining. don't worry, you don't need to tell me to sprint to the finish. i'm not lazy and never was. i'm still hard working and the most experienced and prepared that i have been in my mission so it's not hard to work for a few more weeks.
last week i made some buko juice. i will miss coconuts when i got home. i can just climb a tree in the back yard and just grab any one i want. what buko juice is, is; condensed milk, sugar, coconut meat, coconut water. that simple. i will definitely miss it along with mango float. sadface.
30 days left! i can almost feel it.....
October 29, 2012
Happy Halloween. unfortunately i can not participate in the festivities, but am with you all in spirit.and i'll be with you all anyways in a few short weeks.
something i heard from president lopez was that he considered me to be "one of his very best "booster" missionaries!" meaning one whom boosts others up to a higher potential. i guess that's something to be proud of. i hope i did good on my mission. i've been trying to boost this companionship in terms of teaching skills and also sharing some of my knowledge to the zone as well. pretty soon i'll be gone and all the knowledge acquired on my mission will no longer be used for the benefit of the mission.
this week has been difficult in trying to understand the language, mainly because there are a few different languages being discussed. and many word are the same but have different meanings. when asking what a word (ex:dula=lose in illongo) means in illongo, someone can say "what does dula mean" the answer would of course be "lose" but when using a word from another language (ex:dula=play in cebuano) someone can still say "what does dula mean" with the meaning implying that i am asking for a translation from cebuano to illongo or illongo to cebuano or illongo to english or cebuano to english .(dula in illongo = wala in cebuano) (wala in illongo = none/left in english = wa'ay in cebuano) homonyms and synonyms complicate this even more. so when asking for the meaning of a word, it can sometimes get pretty confusing. hopefully that wasn't confusing.
37 days left!
something i heard from president lopez was that he considered me to be "one of his very best "booster" missionaries!" meaning one whom boosts others up to a higher potential. i guess that's something to be proud of. i hope i did good on my mission. i've been trying to boost this companionship in terms of teaching skills and also sharing some of my knowledge to the zone as well. pretty soon i'll be gone and all the knowledge acquired on my mission will no longer be used for the benefit of the mission.
this week has been difficult in trying to understand the language, mainly because there are a few different languages being discussed. and many word are the same but have different meanings. when asking what a word (ex:dula=lose in illongo) means in illongo, someone can say "what does dula mean" the answer would of course be "lose" but when using a word from another language (ex:dula=play in cebuano) someone can still say "what does dula mean" with the meaning implying that i am asking for a translation from cebuano to illongo or illongo to cebuano or illongo to english or cebuano to english .(dula in illongo = wala in cebuano) (wala in illongo = none/left in english = wa'ay in cebuano) homonyms and synonyms complicate this even more. so when asking for the meaning of a word, it can sometimes get pretty confusing. hopefully that wasn't confusing.
37 days left!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
October 22,2012
well this week is better than last week, i just got some good news that makes things easier to deal with.
anywho, i mentioned a few weeks ago that i probably will need to go to the dentist for a filling. well i did. after i finished writing that blog i was so annoyed with the filling that i just kept picking at it with my thumb. well it fell out and i went to the dentist. they fixed it and now i am much happier with it cause that filling had been annoying me for my whole mission, seriously, read my MTC blogs. but anyways, it was actually kinda expensive... change..change....change.......
One thing that i will miss tremendously in Kabankalan is not only the members but the Buko Pilipino. for those unlearned in the Filipino languages, Buko means coconut. it's actually just a little store that sells buko shakes. they taste amazing and i developed an addiction to them. i don't think i'll ever be able to taste another one ever again during my mission. that makes me haz a sad. i will try to replicate the recipe when i get back home. although it would probably be easier to try it here because i can just climb a tree and grab my own coconut instead of buying it from the store. the recipe includes, coconut (secret ingredient), some secret condensed milk, some secret corn syrup, and some secret ice. all blended in a secret blender.
my new area Guihulngan suffered from a very strong earthquake a few months ago, at the time that i was in himamaylan. this earthquake didn't destroy very many buildings, but it did put a lot of big cracks in a lot of buildings and roads. one such building is the church chapel. the cracks are minimal and easily repaired on the upper portion but underneath (in the foundation) the cracks ruined the cement which makes the church unusable. we currently have church services in the parking lot in a portable temporary church. the temporary chapel it is actually better made than most regular churches (of other denominations) here in the Philippines.
a few weeks ago, i was told by president lopez that he had plans a few transfers back to assign me as the new AP around this time but chose not to because i would be going home early and that would force the AP's into a whitewash situation because the two others would be going home the same transfer as me. thinking back on that, it would have been a very different experience to be an AP, being in AC all day and being able to drive... that would be a nice way to end my mission. but it never was.
what's four times four? Fourty Four! 44 days left!
anywho, i mentioned a few weeks ago that i probably will need to go to the dentist for a filling. well i did. after i finished writing that blog i was so annoyed with the filling that i just kept picking at it with my thumb. well it fell out and i went to the dentist. they fixed it and now i am much happier with it cause that filling had been annoying me for my whole mission, seriously, read my MTC blogs. but anyways, it was actually kinda expensive... change..change....change.......
One thing that i will miss tremendously in Kabankalan is not only the members but the Buko Pilipino. for those unlearned in the Filipino languages, Buko means coconut. it's actually just a little store that sells buko shakes. they taste amazing and i developed an addiction to them. i don't think i'll ever be able to taste another one ever again during my mission. that makes me haz a sad. i will try to replicate the recipe when i get back home. although it would probably be easier to try it here because i can just climb a tree and grab my own coconut instead of buying it from the store. the recipe includes, coconut (secret ingredient), some secret condensed milk, some secret corn syrup, and some secret ice. all blended in a secret blender.
my new area Guihulngan suffered from a very strong earthquake a few months ago, at the time that i was in himamaylan. this earthquake didn't destroy very many buildings, but it did put a lot of big cracks in a lot of buildings and roads. one such building is the church chapel. the cracks are minimal and easily repaired on the upper portion but underneath (in the foundation) the cracks ruined the cement which makes the church unusable. we currently have church services in the parking lot in a portable temporary church. the temporary chapel it is actually better made than most regular churches (of other denominations) here in the Philippines.
a few weeks ago, i was told by president lopez that he had plans a few transfers back to assign me as the new AP around this time but chose not to because i would be going home early and that would force the AP's into a whitewash situation because the two others would be going home the same transfer as me. thinking back on that, it would have been a very different experience to be an AP, being in AC all day and being able to drive... that would be a nice way to end my mission. but it never was.
what's four times four? Fourty Four! 44 days left!
October 15, 2012
well some things happen in ways that you wouldn't expect nor like. i've been having a very difficult week this week but hopefully thing will be ok.
i'm now in Guihulngan with elder Pineda. he is a good elder and Guihulngan is a good place. well i guess it really depends on how you look at it. it has the characteristics of a deserted island. it is a very nice view if you like jungles, mountains and beaches. as a matter of fact, the drive here was the most gorgeous drive that i've had the opportunity of riding. if i had had the chance to take pictures i would have most definitely jumped out and done so. the area is also roughly similar in beauty. it is a small city, far away from normal civilization. of course they still have things like internets (that thing Al Gore invented), radios, tvs, cars, trikes and things like that. they are just in a lower abundance. the nearest main city is san carlos which is actually over an hour's drive away. there they have a legitimate shopping center and so forth. i don't think i'll be going there very often though because of the distance. i'm in Negros Oriental, in the farthest away area in the mission. if i were to go any farther, i would be in Cebu mission. as a matter of fact, they speak Cebuano here and i have yet to learn a word of Cebuano. i'll just continue to speak Hiligaynon to them, hopefully they'll understand.
i will miss Kabankalan. my time there was too short, i wish i could have stayed there for my last transfer. 51 days left.
i'm now in Guihulngan with elder Pineda. he is a good elder and Guihulngan is a good place. well i guess it really depends on how you look at it. it has the characteristics of a deserted island. it is a very nice view if you like jungles, mountains and beaches. as a matter of fact, the drive here was the most gorgeous drive that i've had the opportunity of riding. if i had had the chance to take pictures i would have most definitely jumped out and done so. the area is also roughly similar in beauty. it is a small city, far away from normal civilization. of course they still have things like internets (that thing Al Gore invented), radios, tvs, cars, trikes and things like that. they are just in a lower abundance. the nearest main city is san carlos which is actually over an hour's drive away. there they have a legitimate shopping center and so forth. i don't think i'll be going there very often though because of the distance. i'm in Negros Oriental, in the farthest away area in the mission. if i were to go any farther, i would be in Cebu mission. as a matter of fact, they speak Cebuano here and i have yet to learn a word of Cebuano. i'll just continue to speak Hiligaynon to them, hopefully they'll understand.
i will miss Kabankalan. my time there was too short, i wish i could have stayed there for my last transfer. 51 days left.
October 8, 2012
well this week has been ok. tomorrow, my companion elder malit will be going home and i'll be getting a new companion. he hasn't been trunky, he's still been diligent but being with him has kind of gotten me to think about home a lot too. mainly because it isn't very far away. this transfer will be my last full transfer. i don't really know what to say. i guess i'm excited. 58 days left.
i miss home, i miss my mom, i miss my family, i miss my cats, i miss my friends. 2 years is a long time.
this week my tooth has been acting up again. i think i may need to go to the dentist here but i'd rather wait until i get home and then go to a real dentist... also, pretty soon i will be heading home and i will have to pay baggage and luggage fees. those can get pretty expensive... i'm just saying...
October 1, 2012
Baptisms for this week.
technically, they weren't my baptisms because they live in the sisters part but they were the family that elder parilla and i found and taught for the past few months. they were baptized while i was still assigned here in kabankalan. there are a great family and have really been hungry for the gospel.Gemma mayang NombreEstelita Gasataya MayangMay Gasataya MayangSteny Rose Limen UtanaSamuel Mayang Nombre IIIStephen Roy Limen Utana
there will be more planned this upcoming week hopefully if all is well. they were in the hospital for a week and may still be there.
this week we also celebrated family week by going to hinigaran and participating in a parade. it was ok lang. we then finished it up by having a ward home evening which was actually really fun and a good time.
being a zone leader is busy work. soon it will be over though. for the past few weeks we've been setting things up, having meetings, interviews, trainings, etc. we've also been making the ward records more uniform and organized. also, got a very nice area map now. about 5'x5' big.hopefully this will actually put a good foundation into the missionary work here. when we came here, we both whitewashed in and there was nothing in the area book. so the area will be better for it.
Also, today i received a REVISED itinerary. this is the new itinerary. it can also be found at https://www.checkmytrip.com/cmt/apf/cmtng/pnr_retrieve?SITE=NCMTNCMT&LANGUAGE=US&R=Z6SHPX&N=JOHNSON
the important thing to take from this is that i will be getting home on Thursday DEC 6 at 3:15 PM and at 3:16 i will be hugging my mother and around 3:20 i will be eating a chino bandidos gringo chicken meal with the jade red chicken quesadilla and pork fried rice. probably also a chipotle burrito mixed in there and a chalupa from taco bell and also in n out animal fries. after that, around 4 i will be playing with my cat jack and spot. after that, you could probably find me at my house. or maybe you could even meet me at the airport at terminal 3. you might want to start getting ready, it's only 65 days away!
SERVICE DATE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE
_____________________ _____ ______________ ______________ _______ ______
DELTA AIR LINES 06DEC MANILA TOKYO 800A 115P
DL 172 THURSDAY NINOY AQUINO I NARITA
L ECONOMY TERMINAL 1 TERMINAL 1
NON SMOKING BREAKFAST NON STOP
RESERVATION CONFIRMED 4:15 DURATION
AIRCRAFT: BOEING 747-400
SEAT 28H NO SMOKING CONFIRMED
DELTA AIR LINES 06DEC TOKYO LOS ANGELES CA 345P 845A
DL 284 THURSDAY NARITA LOS ANGELES IN
L ECONOMY TERMINAL 1 TERMINAL 5
NON SMOKING DINNER NON STOP
RESERVATION CONFIRMED 10:00 DURATION
AIRCRAFT: BOEING 777-200LR
SEAT 37G NO SMOKING CONFIRMED
DELTA AIR LINES 06DEC LOS ANGELES CA PHOENIX AZ 1250P 315P
DL 4789 THURSDAY LOS ANGELES IN SKY HARBOR INT
L ECONOMY TERMINAL 5 TERMINAL 3
NON SMOKING NON STOP
RESERVATION CONFIRMED 1:25 DURATION
FLIGHT OPERATED BY SKYWEST DBA DELTA CONN
AIRCRAFT OWNER: OO SKYWEST AIRLINES
AIRCRAFT: CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 700
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