Sunday, May 22, 2011

May 22. 2011

2 more baptisms this week, sister charina mendoza and Angela lornel. that brings the total to 7 baptisms.


i've been reading up in the old testament and have found some interesting scriptures so i am now going to start giving a scripture every week in my blog. these scriptures are mainly ones that make no sense to me and are kinda out there. the weird scripture of the week is; "2 Samuel 6:14" happy hunting.


well i don't know what happened to the kittens. i'm hoping that someone found them and brought them home and is raising them now. i guess it's best that i don't know, that way i can still have hope for them.


we had a bonfire last night, it was all the trash from this transfer and a bunch of branches from the trees outside. no pictures. it reminded me of my firefighter days (when i volunteered with coach cole at the fire station) where i heroically unzipped my zipper and doused two garbage fires in the middle of the night and then went back to the station and played halo 2. (i'm being serious here that's what i actually did back then) it was kind of a going away thing for elder stradling because he's going home (he's in my house) and he has been way super trunky this past week. no joke, he makes me trunky.


oh and there are more weird uses for tires, like a water well, or playground equipment, or a sign. this place kinda reminds me of gears of war because all the stuff is either rusted or destroyed and kinda blackened and gritty because of the salty air. like the concrete walls are all black and stuff, it's kinda cool. it also kinda remind me of resident evil 3, i don't know why but it does. oh and final fantasy 7 (in the squatter areas) i'm sure that the artists/designers of these games looked to places like these for inspiration as to what the game should look like.


there has been a jeepny strike this past week about the oil prices. it didn't do anything because no one cared, it was just annoying to have to walk around more. they eventually gave up.


something that would be a good idea to send would be slip on shoes, preferably water proof and size 13-14. they don't have any in my size over here.


an electric racket would be cool to have. i don't need one, i'm planning on buying it here anyways, but it would kill sooooooooooooo many bugs by the time it breaks. which would probably be a week with me.


interesting thing here, people wear backpacks in the front for some reason. don't know why, maybe theives/pickpockets or maybe when they're riding their motorcycle (there are a lot of those here) they have someone on the back. normally though, missionaries have side bags, because it's too hot to have backlpacks, i already got one and am planning on getting a knitted one when i get the chance.


oh and support was stupid last week, it didn't come in for a few days. which really makes me think that i need an emergency personal fund. we are supposed to have a personal fund anyways, but i don't really have anything in that. donations would be cool.


during church, the kids are really disruptive and no one does anything about it. it's kinda like me and john back in our old days but they haven't nearly burnt the church down yet.


the churches here are a lot smaller and don't have vented AC, only the AC boxes in each room. hard to explain what they look like i guess you'll see pictures someday. oh and there are a few pictures up now, they'll be coming in rather slowly, but there are a few up. he URL is www.photobucket.com/philippinofun the password is bacolod. they're only from the MTC so far.


other than that, i've got nothing for this week. transfers are coming up this week, i'll probably stay unless this place gets whitewashed too.


-Ciao, Roberto.

May 15, 2011

i have baptized 3 people so far and have had 5 in total. these are jeau budaca nugpo(me), Riaphen sarosa Catalon(me), Roy Ryan Bernalez(father), Jureyna Andre Villanueva (me) and Herrman Suarez Juson (Elder Fabia) and we have another one this week, sister Charina.


this week is the first week where i haven't either met or beaten the standard for teachings (25). but that's because we had two baptisms and 2 interviews for baptisms and the jubilee celebration, so that took out at least 15 hours out of our work. the jubilee celebration was nice, i recorded a lot of the dances but it'll probably be a very very long time until anyone sees them back home. the celebration was to commemorate the anniversary of the church in the Philippines (50 years)


good care package deas, razor blades (either Gillette: mach 3 turbo or fusion replacement blades) and pre cooked meals (like pasta slides or anything where it's "just add water and boil") sorry but i've stopped wrtiting letters. they only give me a little money for support and it costs too much to buy paper and letters and send them. and plus, e-mail is faster. last week, the globe system shut down (telephone/internets(that thing al gore invented)) after i talked with my mom, like 20 minutes after some janitor tripped over the power cord or something. just in time. by the way mom, unplug all the stuff in my room so it doesn't take up any electricity, even if it's off.


you know how i said the bathroom would make an american cry? well that's because there was larvae/some sort of worm colony growing on the floor (which had water on it 24-7 because the drain was clogged) and mold on the curtains and in the toilet bowl. luckily, no more. i used some bleach and that didn't do anything so i killed the worms with some permethrin (probably not a good idea in that cramped bathroom but i don't care) and after that elder stokes cleaned it up because he actually had money to buy some cleaner. there were a bunch of flies in there too (probably connected to the larvae) which are gone now. but we still have some spiderbros in there to take care of any other bugs. speaking of spiders, i saw this one spider at brother padul's house that looked like it was the offspring of aragorn and shilob, seriously, it was huge and no one else saw it because they were talking about something in hiligayon and i wasn't understanding it so i stopped paying attention. the language is coming slow. i can kinda teach now and they'll understand me but i wish that i was actually speaking a language that i learned. here, i just gotta learn it as i go along.


most bugs are big and the rats here are huge, like the one's in fallout: new vegas. as a matter of fact, a lot of things here are like fallout; the houses, the changids (kinda like a store at someone's house), the trash piled up, bottles and bottle caps everywhere (seriously, i'm gonna take a picture of this one place with over 100 whiskey bottles) and a lot of walking. back to the rats, there was this one pancaked rat that i kept accidentally stepping in (not on, in) at night on the way home because somehow i walked the same way every night. it smelled. there are a lot of dead things lying around everywhere. it's really upsetting at times, especially when it's a kitten. there are a lot of cats here, they're pretty much overpopulated with them so it happens. there was this one batch of kittens that i saw on the side of the rode that i wanted to help but i can't. i'm just hoping that they weren't put there to die but rather their mom had them there and is just out getting food. i'll be looking back there to see if they live, i know that they probably won't though, i guess that's life.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Monday, May 9, 2011

well yesterday was mother's day for me here and i got to call my mom today, it was good hearing how things are going back at home and good being able to talk to her.

yesterday was also the manny pacquio mosley fight and no one does anything when there's a pacquio fight here. seriously, they love him. we only got 3 lessons after working all day. but we still made it to 30 lessons, which is 5 above the standard again. so far, i've either made or beat the standard every week. we also got 7 new investigators last week and we didn't even tract at all, we just found them. hopefully a few of them progress, because we had a baptism last week and 2 baptisms tomorrow. last week was RR and his father baptised him and this week is brother hermann (the gardener at the mission home) and sister Ina (16 year old who is pregnant (that still only counts as one )) so we'll need to find more to keep above the standard.

i gave a CD of a bunch of my pictures to a member of 5th ward to try to upload to my photobucket. hopefully he'll be able to upload a few pictures to it. so far i hven't seen anything yet. i also gave another member a big list of American bands to look up because he wanted some American songs. i'm hoping to here some of those songs around town before i go home.

some things about the philipines; everything is counterfeit, i bought some fake oakleys and ray bans from some guy on the street for 70 pesos (like 2 dollars) so before i come home, i am going to buy soooooooo many fake sunglasses here and sell them when i get home. they also have fake hollister and A&F clothes, so i might buy those, but only if i have enough weight left over to carry them on the plane. i bought some nice belts, they are made out of caribou horns and cut and polished like dominoes and then put together with 100+ lbs fishing line. imagine spanking your kid with that belt! that reminds me about the wooden wath that i wanted to get, they don't have it here but they have it in Arizona i think. by the way, i've seen name brand watches here that look just like my JF watch (that is half broken) my watch is still cooler though. i wish i could get a new JF watch. there are also pretty cool ties here, especially the skinny ties. they aren't my style, but they'll make for good souvenirs. before i go home, if you want a souvenir, just let me know and send me a few bucks.

this week, i had splits with elder spackman (my district leader) and they had a bunch of chickens next door, one got into our backyard and i was trying to catch it so i could cook it. those things can really fly, like as in N64 Zelda: ocarina of time flying when you hit the chicken like 20 times. it was scary. i wish i had a crossbow so i could just shoot it and be done with it. i hate chickens now, they're way too loud.


oh and i've eaten plenty of different parts of chickens. specifically; liver, head (including the eyes and brain), intestines, feet, and neck, oh and i once ate a baby (balut) also pigs feet. i've stopped getting disgusted by things. just looking at our bathroom would make an American cry the toilet has no seat and stuff kinda grows around it. and the sewers here are ditches literally, they're only covered at the entrances. and the water that we use is black/brown, i baptized Riaphen in black water (no joke) i'll be thankful for hygeinics when i go back home but right now i've given up on feeling clean anymore. i gave up the first day i came here. they also cook thing with fire so you always feel dirty with smoke. i'm so thankful for AC, washing machines, dryers, clean water, reliable electricity, and tooth paste.


they do have trash cans, but they still burn in anyways so i don't know why... they reuse tires for everything; trash can, that's a tire, planting pot, that's a tire, stepping stone, that's a tire filled with cement, speed bumps, that's a tire, bike brakes, that's a tire (that they push with their feet) , tire, that's a reused tire.


i live across the street from Imperial Court. i have no idea what a court is except that something sexual goes on inside of it. there are a lot of transvestites here, so that might have something to do with it. if you can find that on google maps, then you can find me. i still don't know the streets because i don't look or ask but also because they don't really have signs.

being an American here is like being a celebrity. they can tell that i'm an American from 50 yards away at night while i'm on a jeepnie. girls hit on me all the time, kids follow me (which sometimes gets annoying because they'll sometimes ask for money, and they also play with bugs) and boys are normally cool but sometimes i'll get one that says something insulting to me and it's a challenge not to throw his face into the sewer.


i normally eat with utensils but at certain places (like mang inasal) you just use your hands. mang inasal is really good, i'm not sure what exactly they use as the dipping sauces but you mix soy sauce, vinegar, oil, chilis, and some lime thingy and use that to dip the chicken in. at least that's what i think the stuff is. they have unlimited rice packed in a banana leaf as well (the banana leaf does nothing it's just a plate) another good restaurant is jollibee.


it rains here a lot, One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night...

one thing i've heard from other missionaries is that if someone sends you something, have them place a picture of jesus on the outside so that the workers are guilted into not stealing from your box. but one of the main things i need is good strong socks. those would probably not be stolen anyways.


also, if anyone could e-mail me "Handels' messiah" by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in MP3 format, that would be greatly appreciated. i can't get it on flash drive from here because i only use internets cafes. (that thing al gore invented)

oh, by the way, my mom is keeping the truck for me because my brother bought a new one. but no one is going to be driving it, so it'll just sit there. i'm sure that it'll need to have some stabilizer put in it because if not, the fluids inside it would get messed up. if anyone knows what to do about that, please talk to here about that, thank you.

oh and if you'll notice, i've quoted like 10 different movies in my blog in the past month.


well that's all for this week. thanks for the support. see you all later.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Monday, May 1, 2011

Legolas 2 already.... just so everyone knows, i'm only counting baptisms if i'm the one baptizing, there are baptisms within companionships, but to keep things fair, i'm only counting my baptisms.


well i'm doing better this week than i was doing last week. even so, it's still really hot and humid here. my area is literally the beach, so it's really humid. it's also a major squatters area and has a lot of trash so it isn't as glamorous as you'd think. but there is a cool pot where they have a few makeshift basketball courts about 20 feet from the ocean. i'm sure Jake would love playing basketball on the beach.


well since i wrote pretty much nothing last week, i figure i'll try to make up for it by including a much as i can about where i'm at. i may not be able to finish due to the time costraints though so more nect week hopefully


SM is the closest thing i'll get to an american mall, it's got a movie theater and appliance store and supermarket and then a bunch of outlet stores. there's also another mall in my area, (SM isn't in my area but every missionary in bacolod goes there anyways) and the other mall i really nice. they keep the AC really cold, and it's a rich area anyways. it' pretty much about a 5 minutes walk from the mission home which is a really rich house.


i said before that everything here is small. like the travel size of everything back at home. and that goes for everything, including the vegetables, cats, dogs, take out meals and everything in between. so when your looking at the pictures (which will hopefully be up soon -more on that later) just remember when your looking at the recipes that the proportions for the ingredients is most likely different than it will be over there. the lotions and other stuff here also don't come in bottles, but rather packets (like capri sun) with pictures of bottles on them. it's much better for the environment because of the reduced pollution. it also makes sense because they don't have garbage men here (it's an island, where would the trash go?) so they just burn their trash and the stuff that doesn't burn just sits there. it sucks because it's smokey when you walk through it and then you feel even dirtier than before.


the only things that are huge are the fruits and walls. really, they have walls here that go like 20-30 feet. it's because squatters end up camping out by rich houses and then the rich houses need to add huge walls with barbed wire and broken glass to keep people out. so even i'd need to go ninja and get a grappling hook or a batman hook to scale these walls, they're big.


there are a few things that the philipino people love, of them, the most noticeable are basketball, karaoke, and el diablo fights (el diablo is Spanish for fighting chicken jk, lol 10 points to whoever knows where that's from) i walked by one but couldn't see who was winning. all i could see was just a crowd of people yelling at 2 roosters and stomping their feet.


one of the drinks that i like i zagu, it's like a jamba juice back at home with a bunch of weird beans or something at the bottom. i think Nikki, (john's mom) had some of that back at phoenix and knows what it is and where to get it. the one i had had a weird name and tasted like a macapino magic fudgee bar. probably no one will know what that tastes like but i don't know how to explain either flavor.


i gave a CD of pictures to a member in the ward for him to upload them to photobucket for me. hopefully they'll be up soon. i have pictures of recipes so you can try eating philipino style foods. i also sent a SD card from the MTC to the Finlayons, but i don't know if they received it...


if someone could send an e-mail with the messiah CD in it that would be much appreciated because i never have time to rip it. well anyways, more next week! see ya

Monday, April 25, 2011

well there isn't very much to write about this week. elder topette is doing better and i had my 2nd baptism. her name is Riaphen Sarosa Catalan and she's 9 years old. her grandparents are members so it wasn't hard to teach her.

i also ate Balut, which is the fertilized egg fetus that you eat before it's about to hatch. i ate 3. i'm trying to compile a cookbook, using my camera. i'll be trying to upload pictures still but that may take a longgggg while... sorry.

when i get home, i want to go to Hong Kong at least for a few months, and i also want to buy a motorcycle.

things i may need are 2nd skin (for blisters) and Calvin klein socks (the kind with the mesh webbing on the top) i tried finding them back home because i have a few pairs that are meshed but couldn't find them in time. either that or mid length socks because it's wayyyy to hot here. i'm trying to adjust but it's something that i hard a hard time with back at home with anyways. i'll pray for help and relief from this torturous heat.