Jeepney rides, sharing the truth, memories from birth, So hard but worth it

Hello everyone!!!! So awesome to hear from you this week!!!! Your letters uplift and encourage me so much and I'm always awkardly laughing so hard in the middle of these internet places and everyone just looks at me like i'm a crazy person hahahaha. 

Okay! So I tried something new this week and wrote down things at the end of the day that I wanted to write home, so I'll share those and then write about anything else I forgot! 

Last monday we went to the "mall" about 15 minutes away, 2 jeepney rides, to do all of our grocery shopping and get anything else we need for the week. It's so much fun because a ton of missionaries have to go there because it's the most central mall so I always see all my friends! We usually eat together and do our shopping together- such a tender mercy!! I look forward to it every week! 

That monday night we had FHE with one of our investigators, Marimar - 16yr old girl who is living with and working with an elderly member in our ward, and Sister Bendoy gave this awesome lesson about repentance. And then we stuffed our faces with tons of good cooking (ps, i totally put myself on a diet because I refuse to get fat!!! So I still eat everything, just less rice and smaller portions!)

Tuesday was district meeting, my district has us and our DL's companionship and two Sisters from tonga and a senior couple. They're awesome and always have such good insights for how we can help our investigators! plus district meetings are awesome cause all the districts in our zone meet in the same building so i get to see everyone again!

(ps, how many calories is in a cup of cooked rice? lemme know plzzz!) 

Wednesday was kind of a long day, lots of walking (we walk about 4-5 miles a day) and no one was home :( But i'm getting better at understanding what people are saying! yay!!

Thursday we met with a Less Active, Sister endaneo, she is HILARIOUS. She lives with her mom and they're these two big fat ladies and they make this candy for their job, just in their kitchen and package it up and sell it around town and she kept like burping the whole lesson hahahaha like ELF BURPING I thought I was going to die from trying not to laugh. So funny. 

Friday we had sister georgine come to teach with us, we have one of the ward missionaries come almost every day, usually sister Leah, and that's so awesome! We alwys have more to talk about when we're walking and they really help in lessons! plus they're way nice and sweet! 

Saturday sister georgine came with us again and I led the lessons! Super tough hahaha cause it's part of my training so sister bendoy wouldn't say anything until I had started and taught about half of it and then she comes in and adds and the ward missionary shares a testimony and i close. The first few lessons were shakey hahah but it got so much easier by the end of the day! I start all the lessons now and it's actually much nicer than following! But super sketchy cause I still don't speak the language well at all hahaha and my accent makes it hard for people to understand me! Always improving of course but yeah, tough! 

Random things- 

Sister Bendoy looks like the mom from brave when she's turned into a bear and is like losing her personality and turning into a real bear. Does that make sense?? hahaha but yes. She looks like that. 

Most of the people here talk like the Asian girl from pitch perfect. They move there mouths but NO WORDS COME OUT. Espeically this one lady in my ward, she's like 143 years old and she always corners me before relief society and talks to me like that for at least 20 min and I just have to smile and nod cause she's not even saying words!! hahahaha it's so hilrious though. also, if you ask someone to repeat something you would expect them to speak slower and louder right? nope! faster and quieter! I've stopped asking people to repeat themselves cause it totally doesn't help hahahaha. 

We're coming into the rainy season which means it's much less hot during the days (still way hot though, i literally have sweat dripping down my legs during personal study, sorry if that's TMI hahah but I have never ever experienced this kind of heat hahahaha) so yeah now we get these huge rainstorms that last for like 30 minutes and it rains so hard the streets turn to rivers and are so muddy and slippery and if we're inside we have to yell so loud to hear each other hahaha it's nuts!!! way cool though!! 

Okay so everyone here just raises their eyebrows to greet you, so passing everyone on the street and everywhere, you just raise your eyebrows. My forehead gets so tired from it haha! Okay remember on the sound of music when they do that puppet show and theres that one puppet who\'s eyebrows can move up and down?? if yu don't remember go youtube that scene and watch it cause that is exactly everyone here hahahahahaha so funny. 

Jeepneys are SO FUN. It's just like the indiana jones ride cause of all the potholes and everything hahahaa but I love them! So fun. And sera, after my mission we just need to move here and be jeepney drivers cause they just drive up and down the road all day blasting music and there are no road rules here, everyone just does whatever they want, no stoplights or anything and it's just crazy hahahah and you would love it and we will be jeepney drivers and it'll be awesome. 

In case I didn't mention in my other emails, we shower with  a bucket of water (im so pro now!!) and wash our clothes by hand (not so pro hahah) and yes even flush the toilet with a bucket of water. So basically i'm the leader of all things castaway and swiss family robinson. hahahaha. 

And there's no AC anywhere, just rotating fans so I have no memory of what it feels like to not be hot hahahhaha. 

My president has been out like 10 months? so I'll have him my whole mission. He's great though, so that's good with me! 

Sum-ag is probably as big as la verkin? so it's pretty big. 

There is music everywhere!! jeepneys, houses, EVERYWHERE. So I'll totally stay up with all the music hahaha cause I won't be able to avoid hearing it!!

The rain here doesn't smell :( SO SAD. 

Okay! Now for the work!! SO awesome this week. We have 2 new investigators and they're all awesome!! and we have a baptism this saturday! yay! His name is christian lopez, 11 years old, and we were already halfway through the lessons when I got here so I don't really count him, but i'm so excited for him! He's adorable. And our other investigators, we had one referral for this guy, willie, and when we went to contact him is son wilmer was there (willie is like 90 haha and his son is like 30) and we taught them and committed them both to baptism in the first lesson!! So great! I may have mentioned them last time but when we went to teach them again their brother/son Winnie (yes like winnie the pooh) was there as well and is also going to be baptized!!! They were all asking so many questions which is unusual cause people are very shy here and I was scared they just wanted to arugue but they were actually valid questions that showed they were interested and understanding!! At one point I asked them If this message, what we've taught you was true, how would you feel? what would that mean to you? and they gave the most awesome answers and were like I would feel so happy. I would give up everything for it. AHHHHHH. I almost died I was so happy. and of course we promised them that it was true and how they could know and all that good stuff. so excited to go back and teach them again!! 

     Our other is this 75 year old woman who has this little fruit stand on the bridge by our house and this little 5 ft by 4 ft stand doubles as her house- we stopped to talk with her last week while we were waiting for the jeepney and gave her a pamphlet then followed up yesterday and ending up teaching her half the first lesson and committed her or baptism. It was pretty hard cause we were all three crowded in her tiny little place and it's right by this way noisy road so it was hard to talk over the traffic but somehow we were able to tune it all out and teach and she is such a sweet spirit, she told us how happy our message makes her and how glad she is that we came to her. She wanted to come to church yesterday but she doesn't have a dress, but she thinks she can get one from her daughter this week (if not I'll give her mine hahahaha but really) and she was realllyyy shy about praying at the end and it took us like 15 minutes to get her to pray and sister bendoy had to go first and then help her just like you help the little kids in primary but it was so awesome to see her pray for probably the first time. It's times like that that make this all sooooooo worth it. This is 100 million percent THE HARDEST thing I've ever done. But because of that it's also the most rewarding thing. And I've only just started. I know that as I progress in getting used to things and the teaching and the language it'll only get better. So so awesome. and it means the entire world to have you all supporting me :) Thank you guys so much for being so amazing. I love you more that you could ever know. :) and to all my friends and everyone who emails me and prays for me, THANK YOU!!! I"m sorry if I can't write you all back, my time is so short, but I love your letters and I can feel your prayers!!!! 

also!! You can still dear elder me!!!!! I get the dear elders every tuesday and disctrict meeting!!!!! So please please please encourage people to dear elder instead of email and if you have a chance to send a short little note or something I would love it!!! but keep sending me my weekly email of course hahahah :)

So funny story, I've been having like a crazy overload of memories lately!!! LIke, in the MTC I had Bella-after-vampire-transformation-memory and couldn't remember anything from before, it took me three days to remember what snapchat was called, but NOW it's like I am remembering every tiny little thing that's happened to me since birth!! from reading Mrs Piggle Wiggle to seeing UP for the first time in theaters to hiking emerald pools when i was like 8 to playing cards in Montana to Sera biting Spencer to cam and I getting in that fourwheeler wreck a million years ago to that doll and clock shop where sera got her heidi doll in germany to disneyland on my 11th birthday to eating fondue on the deck one sunday after church to when we hatched chicks in the incubator and LITERALLY ALL THE MEMORIES I HAVE EVER HAD. It's so crazy!!! hahahahahaha and doesn't help with homesickness hahahahahaha. But it's okay, every time I start to get homesick and feel like my mission is going to last a million billion years and never end, i think of the story of when mom got her haircut from the devil on her mission and what she did when she was riding her back after and for whatever reason that makes everything better!! hahahahahah. So yes, thank you for having that experience mom!!! :) hahahaha. I also pray, that works really well hahaha :)

As far as language, I'm already able to understand SO MUCH better than my first week. I'm taking in about 60% and can guess pretty good at the rest. At least i think so hahaha maybe I just think I understand ;) but yes, that's way nice! And my speaking is also improving, slowly but surely! 

Sister Bendoy and I are getting more comfortable with each other every day haha and we're no longer 2 strangers spending every single second of every day together hahaha :) So yay!! And I know that will just continue to improve every day!! She's so great to stay so patient with me and our lessons are much more unified and yes, just all much better :)

I wish I could write for the entire day!!!! But I can't and im so so so so so sorry I can't send pictures this week either, it's soooo hard and would take the whole hour!!! I'll try and figure it out soon though!!!! sorry!!! 

And you're all doing so awesome!! yay sadie and her puppies!!! yay mom!! I'm so excited for your race, I know you'll do amazing!! And everyone else, I wish I had time to write you all each 56 page emails but I cannot so just know that I LOVE to hear hwo you're all doing and I love you all SO SOSO SO SO SOS O MUCH. Like, for reals. SO MUCH. 

HAHHA Sera, I just looked out the window and the jeepneys here all have stuff painted on them from like disney princesses to pokemon and stuff and one just drove by with patrick and the mermaid princess girl from the spongebob movie and now all I can think of is "Now that we're men!!!" hahahahahahahahahaha. yayayay.

Dang you guys!!!! I just miss and love you soooo much!!!!!! The work is awesome and makes everything worth it and I'm so excited to keep growing and improving every day!!!! I can always feel your prayers and they help me every day :) I pray for you every day too!!!!!! So just keep being awesome!!!!!!!!! Okay!!!! That's all I have time for today!!!!! love you love you love you love you!!!!!! have an awesome week!!!!!!!

May 20th 2013

HI hi hi hi hi!!!!! I'm in an "internet cafe" ( more like a computer whore house hahaha) just up the street from our apartment and this kepboard is the devil and i have to slam the keys to make them type so I sound like a mad tap dancer over here hahahaha. and if theres weird mistakes and mistypes, thats why.

SO this week has been so so so so much better!! The first like 10 days I was here I would wake up with anxiety and be like "oh my goshhhhhhh I can't believe I agreed to do this for 18 MONTHS I"M CRAZY" hahahahaha but I would just get out of bed and pray pray pray and read my scriptures for a few minutes and then keep going about my day and every day has gotten better and better and I'm thankfully adapting very wquickyl! Thanks to all of Heavenly Fathers help :) 

MY COMP. So at first I was really bad and did not want to be with her beacuse she wasn't american. how bad is that? hahahaha. not ina racist way! just in a "it's nice to have an american to relate to here in this crazy country way" haha. And I was bad and complained about here a bit to sister nielson when I saw her at zone meeting and then I felt bad and realized that was not going to help anyyyyything. So. I just kept trying to stay positve even thugh we had a big language barrier and she wasn't always patient with me and we had so many awkward silnces all the time and I never knew wht we were doing in lessons and why she was so strct about some rules and totally lax in others and just thinking all these negative thoughts and then while I was putting up my pictures I saw the one of sera and I in our cheer uniforms and I remembered hjow it is for each new squad each year. THey've worked the ebntire year to get good at bulding and dances and all thge cheer stuff and they know how to work together and they're all good and then you have to welcome all the new grls and start over at the very basics and it can be very very fristrating! so I realized that's how Sister Bendoy is, she's a year in (yesterday! ah!) and she just came from a companionship with her best friend and they worked well toghether andall just like a good squad and now sh has so start over with a fortegner and that's tough!! So once I started thinking like that, things got much better! Now we even laugh and we talk and even joke arund sometimes! and I've learned hjow to ask questions in a way she responds to positively so I am more prepared for lessons and things. It's great! And it'll just keep inproving! 

As for the work! We committed SIX pople for baptism this week!! ahhh!!!! and I got to extendx the commitments every time!!!! SO MUCH FUN. and TWO of them were new investogators that sister bendoy and I found froma  referral and in the first lessons we extended that invitation and they accepted and oh my gosh its all just so so so good!! and we had less actives who haven't been to church in months and months and motnsh come on sunday!!!!! yayayayayay. Okay so the philippines missions have this thing called "rescue" and basically iot means that we spend a ton of time visitng with less actives and trying to reactivate them because we have so many! for instance, our ward hee in sum-ag (thers only one) has 100 active members and 500 members overall. yeah. it's really easy for people to become inactive here! and back at home inactives are the responsiblility for the ward mostly, like the work we did in young womens with karlie wright anda ll thenm, but here we as misisonaries visit them. I was reeally annoyted by this at first casue I just wanted to ocus on investigators and have the ward do it's job but then sistr bendoy expalined about rescue and now it makes sense. also aprt of the rescue s that we teach Recent Converts for an entire year after baptism o.O which totally threw me off at first cause if I was an RC i was get so sick of that hahahahahaha but now that I understand thast it's just for the philippines missins im much better with it! 

The language is slowly coming more and more! my first sunday I understood NOTHING that nyone said hahahahaha and this last sunday I understrood generally everything and the wrods I didn't know i just figured out because of context and stuff! yayaya. So excited for that part to come so I can fully help these people! 

You guys are all doing sooooooo great!!!! I love so much hearing everything from home, it makes me so happy!!!!!! So keep it up!!! :) 

Sdaie! you ho! jk, that is not appropriat missionary langueage. May you have all the blessings of motherhood you rascal!!

The food here is all SO YUMMY. Even though it looks like it should taste like rotted gargabe hahahaha. I have to use so much self control to not eat myself sick. and I've been cooking this week too! Sister BEndoy has bee teahing me all the ways of filipino cooking! and at the store today we're going to vbuy some food that I know how to make and I'm going to use my money to get oreos with peanut butter cause sister bendoy has never tried that and she said they have oreos here! score!! we et rice every meal (yummy yummy yummy) and some sort of topping and then like fruit or something. it's all soooo yummy I love meal time hahahaha. but don't wirry! I do lke 100 crunches every morning and we walk all day and I make sure I don't eat too much so I won't get gross and fat. yuck hahahaha. 

I'm going to rty and send pics now!! BUt i'll send it in a separate email. Man I just love you all so mucgh!!!!! I wish I had mre time to write you but know that I love you and im sorry that i didn't answer all your questions, I'll send these pics and then try to send another small email or something. but yes!! love love lve love love love love ou!!!!!!!!!! BIG HUGS AND KISSES

Megs first letter from the Philippians :)

HI there  :) 

Okay!! To quicly answer dad's questions:

 -My flights were way fun, I sat with sister nielson for some of them and we  just talked for the entire like 10 hour flight to tokyo, she is one of my best friends ever already. I love her to death!! LIke, we will definitely live together at college or something. She's awesome. But yeah, flights were good! weird without watching tv or even looking at sky mall!!

-No jet lag, but I wake up at 5 every morning on the dot and have a really hard tome getting back to sleep. so i usually lay there until 6 and then read scriuptues and write in my journal or something.

-  yfeah pres lopez has an accent , not sure which kind haha, just an accent!

- the mission welcome was good, we stayed at he mission home for a day and a night and he told us it was a time to relax and nap and preapre for the work and stuff, so sister nielson and I just talked the whole time hahahahah. miss her so much!!! but sh'es in my zone at least!!! I see her... every 6 weeks hahaha. BUt I'm tryin to get sister BEndoy to let us spend some of o days together 

- hahah pres lopez is.. very very nice but a different personality!! I'll have to think of someone to compare him to cause i can't explain it

-  200 missionaries!

- I'm in Sum-ag, Google maps it!!! 

-all the sisters have been moved to areas that are withint 30 min of the mission home, and i'm about 20 min away

-Sister Bendoy, native obvi, no idea where she's from, oine of the islands here, i have no idea what they're all called

 -yeah they basically spoke baby talk ilonggo in the mtc, i understand MAYBE 3 words a sentance and I have no idea what relevance they have to the conversation hahahah so yay

-there are 2 other comapionships in our district, 2 samoan sisters and 2 elders, i haven't met them yet/// not sure about the zone! I just know sister nielson is in it!! haha :)

-yes weekly district meetings but this week is zone meetiogn!! praises be!

-we are teaching a TON. I'll talk more about that later!

-I\Um duh, I've committed the entire iland to baptism and they're closing the mission now and i'm coming home early :D hahaha

-no baptisms yet, a few witha  date from the last sisters

SO. It's SO CRAZY HERE. I have no idea what I was imagining before, some made iup fairytale land, cause it is basically the opposite of everything I've ever known here!!!!!! I was imaginging like  cute little fruit stands with eeryone smiling and happy and beautiful lush forrests and the beach and everything... hahahaha um.. kind of. We get some of our food from the mall thing about 15 min away from our home and they have normal things like pringles and bbutella if you look hard . then the rest of our food we get from the "market" down the street and there's like flies and everyone has touched everything with meat sitting in the sun and stuff, pigs heads and tons of fish and stuff. I have no idea how to send pictures of this weird internet cafe computer so I'll try nedxt week, I \also hven't taken many pics, so next week can be pic week, but yeah we've eaten like fish and of course tons of rice       , but everything actaully tastes really good even though it looks rotten!! So thats good, food is good. I don't know how to cook anything tho haha so I just do dishes!

Sister Bendoy is a native so she has a very strong accent and comes from a very different culture so at first it was really tough just cause everything was so new and I had just come from the MTC with so many good good friends and then I was thrown here and it's all so different so that was kinda tough like I said, but after a ton of praying and scriputiure study and positive attitude it's gotten better , and we get along just fine!  

My apartment is crazzzyyy hahahahaha. yes I have a bucket shower . IT's very weird hahaha but not too bad. I feel like  a holocaust child though, all crouched like naked with the bucket hahahahahahahahahahaha. Our filter in the sink is a water bottle strapped to the faucet with a rag tied to the end to keep the water from coming our too brown.  very many bugs, huge cocraoches, small spiders, but no rats!! and two cats that come to eat our leftovers, i've named them senior garfield and beyonce. I am totally a pro though and nothing phases me. I have desaignated a  shoe for bug killing and even when I opened my desk drawer and cockraoches ran out onto my hands i didn't even scream, just grabbed the shoe haha.  we live in a gated area so it's all safe and good. I'll just send pictures, that'll probs be easiest. or tell you when I call tomorrow. yeah i'm calling tomorrow cause it's election day and crazy so yes. tomorrow. not sure what time but it will most likely be the middle of the night fo ryou, sorry!, and i only have 30 min, but yes, listen for the phone and i'll call you tomorrow! it's a 14 hour time difference btw, im 14 hours ahead. 

the teaching is good but taough just cause i have no idea what anyone is saying hahahah. and we teach a lottttttt of less actives. like, 10 a day. but we have a few investigators right now and they're good. I like lessons but like i said, it'll get much easier when i know what's goign on hah! but even then, heavenly father knows and if i can just listen to the spirit it'll tell me what i need to say! and the lanugage will come. slowly but surely. 

it's very very very rare to see white people here so i get a ton of attention all the time, pepople yell "snow white" "puti (white)" "cano (americano)" and when say  i hello and stuff in passing they all fliup cause it's ilonggo haha. and I scare little kids cause they've nevert seen white people, so we'll be teaching a lesson and the mom has to leave witht he kid cause the kid is crying and scared haha and the little kids call me monster or snow white depending on if they're scared or not hahah. it's really weird to get used to!

sorry for this crazy typing, this keyboard is really really old and broken hahahah.

it's SO HOT HERE. I have a rag for wiping sweat of my face. tell aunt sue thank you so much for the handkercheif, i've used it so much!! then i got some other rags to switfch it with.

p day today so we cleaned and i cleaned SO MUCH. LIKE A MADWOMAN. mom you would've been so proud hahaha. i had bathroom and kitchen and I cleaned every single inch and i only had an old sponge and a bucket of water and I got everything so spotless hahaha. and i was sweating with sweat dripping off my face so much and it's so hot and humid i dind't even realize i was sweating until it was dripping and i was liie, what the,. hahaha. we shower twice a day but it doesn't do much hahaha. and we don't have ac in the apartment, just a plug in fan. but i'm getting more and more used to it every day so it's all good! makeup is hpeless though hahahah plus it's not like im tryin to impress anyone, all they care about is my white skin! They literally have whitening lotion int he stores here hahaha. please please please google maps sum-ag and try and see it hahaha. CRAZINESS. and everyting is so loud!!! so loud all the time. but like i said, the first few days were very very overwhelming and i was having anxiety and stuff but i just prayed a ton a ton a ton and read scriptrues and tried to have positive thoughts and work hard and every day has been better! now i only get like "contractions" of anxiety. and I think it's just cause everything is so new and so different than what i ahd imaginged. but it's all good too!! I really am grateful to be here and I trust that the lord has a plan and purpose for me being here!! 

man i feel like i have so much to tell you, and i know when i call i won't be able to tell you everythign in the 30 minutes and i'll probabkly bawl like baby hahahaha please dont worry if i do!!  it's just an adjustment hahaha but heavenly father is looking out for me :) for instance! i was hacing a pretty hard time and having anxiety and i just really wanted to see my friensds, or any american really hahah, and sister bendoy and i needed to go to the "mall"in town and randomly sister nielsona nd her trainer were there!!! so we got to shop with them and eat lunch with them, it was sooooooooo much needed and sooo awesome!!!! I know heavenly father is with me. Biggest tender mercy ever. and I am going to talk to sister bendoy about trying to see them for just a few hours to like ,meet up to shop or have lunch or something on p days so i can see her :) but even if not , god is always with me!! and i'm getting more used to everything ever day and pretty soon i'll be a pro in the language and be teaching a ton of people and be totally great!! I'm great now, it's just a work in progress :)

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY BTDUBS!!!!!  to THE BEST mom in THE WHOLE WORLD!!! I want to write  a huge long thing of how much I love you but i don't have the time and i cou'd't express it anyways, i love you so muhc though :) so so so so so sos o muchhhhh. 

Okay! I have to go, out of time, I love you all SO MCUH you have no idea!!! thank you for your prayers!!!!! Hope you all are doing amazing and having so much fun and listeneding to mom and dad and all that good stuff!! LOVE YOUUUUUU. Talk to you tomorrow!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <# <# <3 <3 <#.