February 13, 2012

silly scripture of the week is Leviticus 19:14

well last week, the earthquake that i talked about was a 6.9 magnitude earthquake where around 40 people died. i wasn't in the epicenter (40 miles away) but the earthquake was still very strong where i am. there have also been about 30 aftershock quakes in the past week. but they seemed to have stopped. apparently it is a new fault line which was just created. also, i mentioned that the volcano on the island is inactive, but it is actually active. it just hasn't exploded or anything like that.

last transfer, i have heard (but not confirmed) that Bacolod was the top baptizing mission in the Philippines. i'm not sure yet but will find out sooner or later. we have been sitting at number 2 for the past 5 transfers or so, so it's about time.

speaking of baptisms, this week i had the privilege of baptizing Joannalyn Intong Ecaranum, Rizza Intong Semana, and Arben Intong Pinon.

good foods that i will want to cook when i get home are

chicken adobo - chicken, soy sauce, vinegar, oil, pineapple, onion, garlic, bell pepper, bay leaf, peppercorn,

kaldereta - tomato paste, pork, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, bell peppers

bicol express - coconut, pork, onions, peppers

talong - eggplant, egg, fishpaste, onions, tomatoes

tinula - papaya, pork, chili, chili leaves, and some other stuff that i don't know because i forgot.

if you can figure out how to make them, that's roughly what the foods are like here. of course there are many many more others but these are my favorites.

one thing to prepare someone to go on a mission... get used to being stared at all the time. no matter where you go, for my whole mission, i've been stared at by everyone. not forr being a missionary, but for being white. sometimes it gets WAY annoying and you get frustrated and ticked off about everyone staring at you for no reason or little kids yelling obscenities at you. but when you get mad about it, well they'll obviously see you being angry and think that you're a jerk and then talk about you being a jerk. this hasn't happened too much because i just shrug it off, ignore them and keeping walking but it's taken a lot of time to get used to it. and even when you just ignore them, it doens't look good for you, they'll think of you as stuck up. you need to show love to everyone even someone is a stupid jerk to you. jesus summed it up perfectly that about this in Matthew 11:17-18

"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children."

people will form their own opinion about you based on absolutely nothing. you don't need to do anything bad or wrong to make people think negatively of you. this is especially true of the quote i just used, if you eat a lot of if you refuse food, people will be jerks to you anyways.

also, bring a thermometer/thermostat when you go on a mission to see how hot it is everyday because it will be hot and you'll never have ac.