MY AREA
Holy cow I never want to leave this place. It is so beautiful here, my google photos are actually good photos now. My apartment is so much better than in Cebu. It's big and clean, and the neighbors are so kind. The people here are so amazing. In Cebu they would always laugh at me when I tried to speak, but here they always tell me to try and tell each other to listen to me. Also in Cebu they all speak English, so everyone would always speak to me in English. But here, no one knows English, so they only speak to me in bisaya and I'm forced to understand and speak it. I am in a branch, and our meeting house is a family’s house. The branch president and members are trying super hard to get a church building built. The branch president is so dedicated to his calling. Everything he does is geared towards building the church, and it just makes me want to work harder to help them.
ELDER URDANETA
My new comp, Elder Urdaneta, is literally the biggest answer to prayer I could have asked for. We get out every day, and sometimes all we eat for lunch is bread. We are constantly working, and it is so great. He also has been helping me a ton with the language. He actually does language study with me. He is also just a super fun and funny person. Just an all around great guy to be around. The only thing that sucks is that President messaged me and said that they are still praying and pondering about transfers. So there is a chance that I will only get to be with him for just this week. I also feel so bad because this is a biking area with FAT hills to climb, and my legs are not used to it yet. They hurt so bad. But I feel bad because I feel like I am holding Elder Urdaneta back because he has to stop and wait for me to catch up sometimes. I push as hard as I can every time, but I'm still so slow right now.
LANGUAGE
I went from last transfer feeling like I was never going to learn the language, to this transfer making a goal to be the most bisdak missionary. Just in this one week I have made insane progress, being able to hold 5-10 minute conversations with people, and being able to finally teach a little and share a solid testimony and prayer. It has felt really good when a couple of times people have asked Elder Urdaneta questions about me, and before he can respond I will respond, and then they will get excited that I understand. I still have a long way to go, but I am so happy with my progress, and am anxious to continue learning.
LAMAW
There is a family here who are investigators, and when I first met them we made two plans. One was for me to help them harvest or plant rice in their rice fields, and the second was to make lamaw. I haven't worked in the rice fields yet, but we did make lamaw. Lamaw is coconut water, ice, coconut meat, evaporated milk, and crackers. It was really fun to watch him climb the tree and cut them down, and to learn how to make it. It also tasted so good. I will definitely crave it when I go home. Also, this family came to church which was super awesome.
SERVICE PROJECT
We had a service project for a family in the sister’s area. We cut down bamboo, and built them a place to wash their dishes. I was so happy that I got to build something. It has been 4 months since I have been able to build anything. I got in a flow, and it was so fun, even with it pouring rain so hard. I have videos and pictures on my google photos. It also felt super good when the guy there told Elder Urdaneta that I was really good at building stuff, and using the tools. I still got it, haha. Also apparently there is a service project next week building a house.
So fingers crossed I will still be here.
CLOSING
Please, please, please look at my photos and see how pretty this place is. Overall this has been the biggest answer to prayer. After my last transfer, staying inside all day every day, and wanting to go home, being here on this beautiful island was such a big blessing from Heavenly Father. This experience just shows me how aware he is of all of us. I just hope that it is in his plans for me to stay here. My mission is some people's paradise. This island is so great.
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