GRATITUDES
I'm going to start each of my emails off with gratitudes. So enjoy. I am thankful for the life I am able to live. Being here, seeing so many people that have nothing, but are still so happy to teach about christ makes me think a lot about how easy I have it back home. I am thankful for the personality that I have, that I can easily talk to people and make friends. I am thankful that I get to be in this beautiful country and learn about so many different cultures.
MY DISTRICT
My district is already so close with each other. There are a few that I am more connected with, and I pray every day that we will be able to stay connected throughout life. We are just the perfect mix of knowing when things need to be serious, and joking around with each other. And when we are serious, everyone has the most heartfelt responses to the questions that are asked. We also have way too many inside jokes already. Back home there is a joke about the number 67, and before I left, that was the only thing I learned how to say in Cebuano, anom pito, and I taught it to everyone, and now we all say it.
MEALS
The meals here are insanely good. The only meals that I don't like are if they have seafood. I DO NOT like seafood. We've already had chicken feet, heart, and liver, and we had squid. Of course, I tried it all, but the liver and squid I had to choke down. There are pictures in my google photos album. There are these rolls that they feed us, and they are the most fluffy delicious rolls ever (next to my moms rolls), but there is a competition in my district to see who can eat the most this week. One elder eats about 15 a day, mainly eating 6 or 7 a meal to keep up with the joke.
LEARNING THE LANGUAGE
For the first three weeks, we are focusing on “Preach My Gospel,” and then the last three weeks are language focused. That being said, talking to the Filipinos and using the language app, I have been able to learn quite a bit. I know quite a bit of greetings, and I'm almost at the point where I can pray in Cebuano. The language is such a fun language to speak. The words come off your tongue in such a satisfying way. Some of my favorite things to say are, maayong pagkaon, which means good food, salamat kaayo, which is thank you very much, and baboy, which is pig.
FUNNY MOMENTS
So for one of our lessons, Brother Ugay, wanted us to learn the order of the first lesson of “Preach My Gospel,” so he came up with actions for each part. One of those actions was the falling away section, and for this he acted as if he was falling. Anyways, during one of our workshops, which is a lesson put on by another teacher, I was going through the motions, and when I got to the falling away, I acted as if I was falling. The only problem was, I ended up falling completely backwards in my chair, not being able to catch myself. My district thought it was funny. The teacher did not.
MY COMPANION
My companion is Elder Kuri. He is from Pa Pau, New Guinea. He has such a big heart. The first night he told me and my roommates that he used to be afraid of Americans because we are loud, but he was so proud of us, and so happy to have an American companion. I am beyond stressed though. Since there is a language barrier, he doesn't really understand anything that is going on. Trying to follow through with different assignments we get in class is so hard because he just has no idea what is happening. I have said so many prayers just trying to find ways to connect with him and be able to help him understand. I haven't figured it out yet, but trust me when I say I'm not giving up.
MY NEW SKILL
In class we were given a goal tracker. One of the things was to read every section of the missionary standards handbook. So I read it. And jokingly Elder Davis told me I should memorize the sections and call them out at people when they step out of line. So, I did. Now whenever someone talks about leaving their companion, I say, 1.1, or 2.2.2, or if someone is complaining, I’ll shout out 3.1, which is about staying positive. I'm almost 100% positive that everyone is so annoyed with me, but I find it hilarious. And when it gets brought up in class, it's nice to know the sections already.
ELDER WILLIAM K. JACKSON
We had a guest speaker,Elder William K. Jackson of the seventy come and talk to us. Before this, the MTC president read off all the countries that were in the MTC, and if we were from that country we stood. The MTC has 249 people from 31 different countries all here together with the intention of making people’s lives better. Elder Jackson chose his topic on how we can invite the spirit. He gave examples like, The Book of Mormon, media, inviting and helping, music, and a couple others. One thing he said was ward missionary counsel. He said that this is a very important part in bringing souls to Christ, and if it's not happening, it needs to happen. He said, and my mom will be super happy about this, that we need to put more effort into retention, that those people we teach, we have to remember them, that they are our members forever. He said that we need to involve the members, because we leave, and members stay, so they can stay to help those we teach after we leave.
THE TEMPLE
The temple here is so beautiful. It's right across the street from the MTC. We get to go twice a week, on Wednesdays for pday, and on Fridays. There is a tunnel that runs from the MTC to the temple, and during study time, we are allowed to go to the temple grounds. Today was the first time that we got to do a session, and let me tell you, it was such a surreal feeling. The paintings are beautiful there. Also, for those that don't know, I have a somewhat secret obsession with stained glass, especially on churches, and the Manila temple has some of the most gorgeous and ornate stained glass I have ever seen. Maybe I'm just blinded because I'm in another country, but hoooolly it's so nice to look at.
I have never felt the spirit stronger in my life than I have here. I know that this is where I am supposed to be. There have been so many moments, the whole MTC singing Gethsemane, watching a movie about the Salt Lake City temple being built, and so many more. Something that has been on my mind all week is just how personal the Lord is for everyone. Seeing so many people, from so many different places and hearing their stories of why they believe, has just shown me the truth of how our Father in Heaven sees us personally.
And,
I’M A CELEBRITY
Literally just walking to and from the distribution center, I had probably 20 people ask to take pictures with me. In one of the photos of the temple in my album, you can see a lady calling me to come take a picture with her.
In a state of awe,
Spencer
LOOK AT MY PICTURES!!! And comment on them
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LUV8Q2aNgr3m2k7M8
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