Epistle from
the Philippines #33
December 10, 2012
Aayong aga! Good
morning! I send this good morning to you from the wonderful city of Kabankalan!
But this time, I have no intentions of returning to Sipalay, nor will Sister
Palai be accompanying me in my travels. This last week (Tuesday), Sister Palai and I were both transferred out of Sipalay, replaced by elders, and then reassigned to new areas! I am the newest sister missionary assigned in Kabankalan! It's true! It's like a dream come true. I love Kabankalan! My new companion is Sister Arabe. She is from Luzon in the northern Philippines, and we, just like Sister Palai and Sister Molina my two previous companions, is from my batch, meaning that we all entered the mission field at the same time. How many missionaries get to serve with so many members of their batch? Not many, I imagine. There were 8 sisters in our group, and I've served with 4 of them so far (Arnold, Molina, Palai, and Arabe). Only three left, excluding myself. Challenge accepted.
We weren't the only ones transferred either. President Lopez told us that we should be prepared to be transferred at any time, not just every 6 weeks. So, at this point, anything goes.
Being transferred to a new area is both fun, sad, and hard. It's fun because I get to see new places and people. It's sad because I may never see the people from my previous area ever again. It's hard because I am now expected to learn dozens of new homes and neighborhoods, and hundreds of new faces and names. In Kabankalan, the church is much more established than in my 2 previous areas. I'm now serving in a Ward. There are so many members here actually, that there are two companionships of missionaries (the other missionaries are elders, our zone leaders).
I am having a lot of fun with Sister Arabe. My language ability is already accelerating, and I expect that by the end of our companionship, I will feel much more comfortable with the more difficult grammar of the language.
This week I had fun meeting many of the members and investigators here in Kabankalan. Among my favorites is a recent convert. He is 35 years old, single, but has a desire to follow God. His mother is active in another Christian church, but has been attending most of the missionary lessons with her son. Now that her son is baptized, we can spend more time focusing on her. Last night we taught her, and she agreed with everything we said. We committed her to pray about our message and Joseph Smith. She's so kind. I can't wait to see how things turn out.
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Please put a penny in the old man's hat. Christmas is definitely in the air right now. Some people have completely covered their homes in Christmas lights.
Some of you have expressed concern regarding a super typhoon that hit the Negros Island this last week. It came the day of our transfer, actually. Sister Palai and I left Sipalay safely and took the bus to Bacolod. No problems, it just rained a little bit. The same goes for most of the day. Sister Arabe and I went to the market, and it was rainy, but nothing threatening. The strong rain and wind didn't co me until night time. We just stayed in the apartment. We were very safe. But I heard that the storm was much worse in Sipalay, where I'd just come from earlier that day. I heard there were fatalities in Hinoba-an man, which is next to Sipalay, and we have elders there. There's also news that the storm is returning to the Philippines, but to Luzon, not Negros. So Sister Arabe has expressed some concern for people she knows there.
I am fine. New area, new adventures. I've met some Interesting people: There's a member here who's an old mail man. He can't read the Book of Mormon anymore because of his old eyes, but he sure does like to talk. He's filled with old sayings (many of which are in English) like "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy and wise!" and "You can't grow rice or camote or any other crop by just cooking it. It takes actual work. You need to do it." He rambles about FDR and America and stuff a lot. I've had some encounters with animals this week. While teaching a lesson, a duck walked into the house, and just pooped right there on the floor. Fun fact: Duck poop is very splurty. Then the duck just walked away. They cleaned up the mess by putting some ash on it first. The Kabankalan mosquitoes are enjoying the fresh American blood. As for interesting food, everything is normal for me now. I eat fried fish and rice a lot. I even eat the fish head.
Tonight our Zone and the San Carlos Zone are going to Bacolod for a Christmas Zone Conference! We'll sleep over at the mission home, and have some good training too, I'm sure. If we're lucky, President Lopez will give us a toothbrush for Christmas (that's what he gave the people with birthdays at the last Zone Conference).
I've decided that for Christmas this year, I want all my friends and family who are members of the church to do two things 1) Make a new friend at your respective ward or branch. You get extra points if you find a less active member to be friends with. 2) Make a friend with someone who isn't a member of the church.
For all my other friends, be good, love one another, don't be dumb, and have a great Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever!
Salamat gid kaayo sa inyong pagpalangga kag mga pagpangamuyo! Palangga ko kamo!
Thank you so much for your love and prayers! I love you!
