December 12, 2011

silly scripture of the week is Leviticus 12:20

well last week i wrote that 85% of members are inactive in the Philippines. and that in NO WAY is an exaggeration. for the past few months our mission president has commissioned us to use the CMIS and to reactivate inactive families in order to find new investigators. this is because out of 645,000 members in the Philippines only 115,000 are active (only 15% active members). this was months ago and now the area presidency has announced a new plan to reactivate members which is basically what we've been doing already because our president is on the ball. he's a revelatory man.

cool snacks to cook when i get home:

tempura- some sort of crab/shrimp/fish thing that is deep fried

buko salad- coconut and fruits mixed with condensed milk

taho- kinda like tofu mixed with syrup and "frog eggs" noodles

yema-caramel and condensed milk mixed with powdered milk

shoi pao- Chinese meat pie/sandwich

shoi mai- Chinese shrimp covered in lumpia wrappers

saging que- bananas deep fried in sugar

puto- rice ground up and used as flour in a little cake

lumpia- egg rolls that have either banana or rice in the and then deep fried

well that's all the snacks for right now. i will need to cook them when i get home. they are yum yums.

also, i've come to understand the culture a lot better. when they say that i have a big nose, it is a nice compliment (even though it's rude in america). calling someone fat doesn't hurt their feelings. gambling after a death is like casting lots and letting fate decide the inheritance.

when i get home, i'm gonna seem weird because i've started to like a few mormon songs (not hymns) which are more like those evangelist songs. kinda like FYE songs. don't worry i still love my old favorite but i'll be listening to a few weird songs. i'll also probably have an obsession with bamboo things.

December 5, 2011

silly scripture of the week is Deuteronomy 22:11
well not much to write about. i'm over dengue and back to working everyday. things seem to slow down in the wilderness area. time goes by quickly and it feels like we slow down. there's just nothing to do but walk or maybe i can try this new fad called uh, jogging. I believe it's jogging or yogging. it might be a soft j. I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild. maybe i can do that but i'd be going nowhere because we don't do much.
we have a lot of lesson though. but I've stopped caring about lessons because the only number that matters is baptisms. i also don't feel prepared in the language to become senior. i've been avoiding that one because i don't want to do finding on my own. i hate finding, using the ward list works best because in the Philippines 85% of the people are inactive because everyone gets offended at everything or they just don't care.
but pretty soon i'm gonna have to step up. i feel rather fluent at doctrinal aspects and teaching skills. the only thing that i'm lacking is the language. some people just don't get it, and i'm one of them. maybe it's lack of confidence that keeps me from progressing and lack of communication because i'm not too talkative. maybe someday i'll go to the office and use these skills that i've learned there.
cool snack to make is biscocho. really it's just sugar, egg, and butter. topped onto a peice of bread and microwaved.
another good snack is piaya, i don't know how they make it but it is like a tortilla/pancake with syrup cooked in the middle.
theatheatheathats all folks

November 28, 2011

silly scripture of the week is Deuteronomy 22:5

we had 6 baptisms last week. woot! their names are; Ma. Elana Eladia Besa, Jonel Bryan Dujale, Jericho Alvarez Rocero, Jerickyll Alvarez Rocero, Jonalee Alvarez Rocero, Kristel Kim Alvarez Rocero. they're a good family and fun to be around.

me and my companion are doing alright. no real problems anymore.

last week i saw a flipped sugar cane truck, i loled. it's actually not that uncommon. the semi truck drivers here are actually VERY careless and most of the time VERY drunk and drive VERY fast. so it's good to stay as far away from the street as possible because it's VERY dangerous. riding on trikes is how i get along and it's kinda safe. i ride on them standing up and it's like riding a chariot.

this last week, around the time that people were eating turkey in america, i was bitten by a mosquito carrying the dengue virus. because like i said, the house is infested with mosquitoes. well dengue sucks. it's like having LBM but worse. fortunately the worst has passed and i showed that dengue whose boss around these parts. even with dengue i was able to perform the baptism. you just gotta keep on keeping on. the worst part was when i had a fever of 102 and there was no water. stupid water companies here are useless. i could go on for hours about how ridiculous the water companies are here. but the whole dengue thing isn't very safe so i need to watch it closely. also elder lopez had sore eyes which also sucks and is contagious.

at our house, we have a moma mary statue which i toss my leftovers at and the cats outside eat them. they are very big on worshipping statues here. weird considering that one of the ten commandments is not to worship. dogs sometimes wander in our yard too but they scare easily. i don't even need to throw a rock, the dogs in the Philippines see you pretend to pick up a rock and they'll start running.

there is a nice drink that i like here. i just call it buko (which is coconut) it is; coconut milk, coconut rind, sugar. and condensed milk. it's pretty good.

well anyways i gotta go and teach that dengue a lesson.

November 21, 2011

Silly scripture of the week is Leviticus 19:14

the area that i'm in is more of a wilderness/ town. it's kinda nice but not my thing. the water still sucks and never has any pressure. so it's like camping everyday. the house is ok, it's not too hot right now/here so that's refeshing. we also have a washer machine (horrible by american washer machine standards) the house get's infested with mosquitoes at night but i sprayed permethrine everywhere. that should get rid of them. we have a coconut tree, mango tree, and papaya trees. none of them are close to being ripe. i climbed the coconut tree and grabbed a few of them but the other elders threw them out because they're tards. nothing spiritual has happened in my mission so far.

November 14, 2011

silly scripture of the week is Leviticus 16:8-10

Well, last weeks transfers came and i transferred to Himamaylan in Binalbagan stake. my new companion is Elder Reyes. he is a native Filipino.

well i might as well make another list of people whom i've had a hand in baptizing.

Jeau Budaca Nugpo

Riaphen Sarosa Catalan

Roy Ryan Bernales

Herman Suarez Jison

Charina Apsay Mendoza

Angela Nombre Bonza

Natasha Suarez Roquero

Nico Navarra Amihan

Lourdes Furrosuelo Atim Jumanguin

Lovely Rose Boracio Glaraga

Angelica Bernadas Deseo

Anamay Dernadas Deseo

Rhoann Dernadas Deopita

Jeany Bernales Glaraga

Charmay Tipon Anecita

Donamy Sta. Maria Caparon

Lyca Nicole Sta. Maria Caparon

Ryan Quillo Mabalon

Rica Mendoza Mabalon

and people who were baptized after i transferred

Rose Canete Olida

Raymond

well not much more time left, see you next week.