Today we went to the temple. It was awesome. We didn't really have to wait at all as it was so early. The people I did work for were all from Germany, Norway and France. The oldest was born in 1780! And the German ones were men born in 1890 who I would guess ended up fighting and possibly dying in WW1! Pretty cool eh?
Tagalog is going well. We learned new sentence structures and things are coming together better, although every Huwebes (Thursday) we learn that teaching in Tagaolog is way different! I think that's why they have the TRC on Huwebes right before P-Day because its so draining.
Dad you are right the days are really full and tiring! We joke that after each meal it feels like we're starting a new day. It honestly feels like that. The devotionals are great! Elder Richard Hinckley came to speak and it was soooo awesome. He's just like his dad. He told us to live up to, or build up the names of our families and be the kind of missionaries our mother's think we are. Something to think about.
I'm sleeping better now that I have two blankets! It's been so cold in our room (and cold here in general) and they give you one blanket so I'd wake up all the time. I asked for more and now I have three (a back up) and I sleep so well. Elder Taurabakai hates the bed. he slept on the floor the other night because his back was sore, but then went back to the bed because he said it was too cold. One of the guys in my room is really picking up the language well. So much that he speaks it in his sleep! I wake up once in a while to him talking in his sleep and the other night it was "Salamat po" (thank you).
Bro. Welch interviewed each class member to gauge our progress. He says I am getting it as well as anyone he's ever seen. I'm sure he's exaggerating a bit. I got the words and conjugations down, but plugging the words into the sentence structure while talking is so hard.
We stayed up late last night.....until 12! We usually go to bed on time but last night we stayed up talking to Elder Taurabakai about what it's like back home in Kiribati. He told us how you lure a dog in, kill it, butcher it, cook it, eat it and which dogs taste best (brown ones I think, so Duncan and Kismet are safe!). I also got your packages. Thanks! Elder Taurabakai really liked them, he loves food, even junk. His fav is ketchup though. He said, at home, if there was a bottle of ketchup, his brother and him would finish it in one meal. Which is probably why he eats it on doughnuts here!
Next week we get a new district so we won't be the newest ones. Weird, it seems like yesterday I got here. Thanks for the hockey news ! I was so excited. Nucks vs Bruins in the finals!!!!! Keep me posted. Everyone here gets basketball news all the time but I just don't care about it.
Thanks for your "Dear Elders" and stuff. Keep them coming please!!! I love to hear from all of you. Even if there isn't much to say, soon I'll be in the Philippines and it won't be so easy to talk. I'll send a letter soon with my schedule too. If you ever want to know what I'm doing though, just guess I'm in the classroom. I'm there 6 hours a day at least.
Here's some wisdom I've recently learned: It's a Tagalog proverb: "He who is accustomed to loin cloths is uncomfortable in pants". So true.
Elder Chadderton is doing well as DL. The other elders look up to him and listen to him. As do I.
Apparently my departure date is the 7th of July. Good to know. And tell Shona thanks for her primary class stories. It's a great feeling to know that the Spirit is working through you.
Thanks for getting me here, and the support while I am here! I love you all. Say hi to the whole family and Riverside & Dows Lake wards and my bishops. Keep up the good work back home. Oh, and I met an Elder form Alberta who knows Jack Stone (it was only a matter of time). I can't remember his name though.
My district consists of Elders Stoddard, Rhoads, Chadderton, Tualitonu (Samoan), Tucker, Thurston, Taurabakai, myself and Sister Steele. Elder Tualitonu is so funny. He laughs allll the time. He also started singing Will You Be There by Michael Jackson the other day and it's been stuck in my head ever since! Weird - that was the last song I heard on the radio before I left. Anyways, this is sufficiently long. I hope you all have a great week and great days at work and stuff. Get lots done, read your sriptures, do lots of fishing together, and scritch the dog! I love you guys!!!!
Elder Dustan
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