Good PM family! (a few filipinos here use "good PM" as an evening greeting... way funny).
I had a bit more of an eventful week this week. I got the package the M's sent me! It was sooooo great. I had the hot chocolate one night when I had had a bit of a rough day and it really cheered me up. They also gave me little shoe polish wipes that are great.
I got new shoes here as it's always so maputik (muddy) and rainy that I needed to get the dreaded "rubber shoe". All the native elders wear them. They look like a dress shoe but they are all rubber and kind of ugly. I used to make fun of my trainer for using them but now I have joined the club. They are cheap too - 200 pesos. Anyways, please thank the M's for me and tell them I love them lots too.
We also bought Martinelli sparkling grape juice my last day in Santa Maria and I thought of them. That was just before the Big Brouhaha... it was a real melee! (see week 34).
I exchanged with the DL in Magapit, Elder M, and he is wayyyy cool. He's fluent in English but we spoke in Tagalog the whole time which was a great confidence booster for me. I loved the area and the apartment was a nice wooden house that was so homey. I could see it back home, complete with a wood stove. It has running water too but you have to get up at 4am and turn it on and then turn the pump off an hour later or it floods the house.
The next day (Wednesday), we exchanged with the AP's and I was with another elder M. The other AP, Elder P, went home after his call was extended an extra transfer (he was soooo cool), and now it's Elder M from Tonga, who I remember vividly from the MTC. I was so impressed with him in the MTC. He wasn't cocky but he was still very confident in his abilities. He was only a batch ahead of me which seems so strange to me. We had a good exchange too. I didn't understand much of what he said in English so we nagtagalog'd most of the time.
The AP's mentioned to us that Sister O would be inspecting our apartment this week and that we should clean it up one day. We had already been frustrated by how messy it was and were already planning to clean a lot. So we didn't work on Thursday - just cleaned every inch of the apartment, which hadn't been really cleaned in two years. It was a long day and I touched some pretty gross things. We moved a big cabinet that was in the way and were going to put it in a different spot. It was reallly big and we had to lift it over a railing. We got it over but it was a huge struggle and just as we got it in place, the whole top part of the cabinet broke off and smashed on the ground. We then tried to put it together again and it looked so pitifully crooked. But when Sister O came and inspected, she was so impressed and said it was one of the cleanest apartments she's seen.
With them was an Elder M, an area authority who was speaking at our district conference. He was really impressed too and he and President O found my machete sitting on my desk and they were playing with it, making jokes about how it was used to motivate the elders. Anyways, I feel "sanctified" - that's what our transfer focus is. It's from Joshua 3:5.
"And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you."
The president says if your apartment isn't clean you can't be ready to teach either. It's all a reflection of your life. I remember Mum saying that about my room one time - how if it was messy, it reflected the way I was living. Now I realize that's so true.
Now, on to the E family. I met them once a couple of weeks ago. They're really receptive - a whole family and they all make sure they drop whatever they are doing to listen when we come over.
We also got punted quite a bit this week. I got pretty sick with a really bad cold (which is getting better now) and then one day my payong (umbrella) broke in the wind and I got angry and tossed it in the ditch, littering and later felt bad.
Once my payong broke I was just done, just really fully annoyed and once we got back to the apartment, I went into the bedroom and prayed until I felt better. The best part is, I did feel better. I always do. Actually, I think it's just a natural cause and effect occurrence for everyone. If you pray sincerely to Heavenly Father, you will always feel better afterwards.
Pretty cool that since I was a child I have had the knowledge of being able to cure myself of anything that troubles me. I have always known how to pray. It really is a panacea (oooooo, nice word use!).
I am realizing now that when we teach people to pray that we give them the same ability to solve problems and lift their spirit. Sweet eh?
We stopped by at another investigator's and they had some fish in a bucket. Pretty big too - like my walleye. They had three of them. They then told us they caught them in the bukid (rice field)! Apparently the river floods once in a while and then the fish get into the fields and can't get out. They live in there for a long time (at least three weeks as I haven't seen the river flood since I've been here). So while they work in the fields, they also catch fish. I can't wait to learn how they do it though.
I forgot to tell you that at ZL conference I got some presents from the members from Santa Maria! I couldn't believe it as I didn't think I had made much of an impact there. Turns out, some thought I did and they couldn't believe that I was transferred so soon. That was really touching.
I also learned I don't really sweat that much (I used to think I did). Two filipinos have told me that, "You
don't sweat like the other white guys."
".......thank you?" I said.
I paid to get some pants made here in Aparri. 400 pisos! It's reallly hard to think in dollars now. Something will be 50 pesos and I'll say, "No, that's too mahal." (expensive) but really it's just over a dollar!
My area in Camalaniugan is good. People here are really nice but they rarely see white people here so we get hey joe'd a lot more.
Many people here are really poor too. I actually find myself trying hard to dress down a bit as I will be telling people that God will provide for them and if I am wearing an expensive tie while doing it, I feel like a tool.
Anyways... I think that's mostly it for now. As I was writing this though, Elder D yelled to me that his mom was reading the blog and was asking if he knew the one who got in a fight in Narvacan.
It's so good to hear from you guys every week. I love you all so much.
But will somebody let me in on what's up in the hockey world? I'm dyin' here!
All the others just chat about basketball and they all get updates. Just saying, elder or not, I am still very much a hockey fan.
Enjoy your week! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!
-Elder Dustan
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