Trike Wars

July 25, 2019

Where did the mango go?

I don't know, the mango goes where the mangoes...

Haha I hope you laughed, because I did when I saw that. I decided to start things off with a mango joke, because I miss mangoes and they're getting more and more expensive. Don't worry, though, there's a whole lot of good tasting fruits here, so it's all good.

Anyways... so most likely, I'll get transferred next week. I have no idea what to expect, but it should be an adventure! We did everything we could for the minority couple that's getting married and then baptized. After many early mornings, and going through the absolutely exhausting marriage process of the Philippines, all the requirements are completed. We're just waiting to see if they can be married on July 30 and then they will be able to be baptized the same day! I'm praying all the time that I'll be able to be here to witness their marriage and baptism, but of course the most important thing is that they get baptized and get on the covenant path! :)

Now for the explanation of the title! 

So, after a long day's work, we were walking home and caught a trike. I went to the inside, and my companion was on the outside -- if you're not sure what the trikes look like, give them a quick google. Here on the island, once night time hits, everyone is asleep. Everything was so peaceful that I was almost falling asleep in the inside of the trike, when all of the sudden I was startled by a loud bang and a little whip lash. The trike skirts to the right and almost tips. But luckily, at that very moment, there was a gas station to the right so the road didn't just end, and we had a lot of room to recover. We were then hit by another trike on the side where Elder Rabanal was sitting, vulnerably. After we recovered, I hopped out to see if he was okay, and luckily, nothing major happened to him, just a couple minor pains and bruises. The guy that hit us was undoubtedly drunk. He was an older guy and kept saying he was sorry, while hugging us and shaking our hands. I didn't see how it happened, but as Elder Rabanal explained it to me, the trike went to pass us and thought we were farther away than we really were, so it smacked into the bottom left corner of our trike. Elder Rabanal said that he had had a feeling to look back, saw the trike, and then basically did the splits with his legs to dodge the trike from crushing his leg. He ended up getting off with just a couple bruises. Pretty sick. Our trike driver was super mad, but also had mercy and decided not to press charges, so that was nice of him. Crazy stuff, but were grateful to still be healthy!

Gonna miss the green and beautiful views of the island! From what I hear,
Cavite is about as city as city gets, so it's goig to be a change for sure!

Who Wants to Get Married?

July 18, 2019

Right now I am currently two-ish hours away from my area because we are trying to help this minority couple complete their marriage requirements so they can be baptized on the 27th. Early this morning, our branch mission leader and an RM came and picked us up in a trike, and then we picked up the couple and their three kids, and made the hour and a half trek to the town hall, in the city where they were born. We are attempting to figure everything out with this couple, concerning missing birth certificates and all other important documents. We are almost done except for one slight problem... the brother has to bring some kind of certification from his parents, who live another two hours away in, legit, the mountains. So we decided to just stay here with the kids and the sister. Luckily, we found a computer shop to send a quick email!

Most likely, with the upcoming transfers, I'll be leaving on August 1st, but I'm seriously praying so hard that these people will make their baptismal date for July 27th, because I seriously love them so much! They live in something along the lines of a shack--one room for the couple and their three kids, ages 2, 4, and 5. I have seen them make so many sacrifices to be able to accept this gospel, including contributing their own scarce means to marriage funds. Often, we have shown up at their home,and more often than not, they are eating just rice for dinner, with some occasional fruits that they've found, and they still always offer us food. Of course, we decline. Such a humbling experience working with them. They will be the first minorities, on the island of Mindoro, to be baptized in the Baco branch. Please pray that everything will go smoothly!

Lots of other things happened, but time is short! I'll catch you all up on everything next week! :))

The flood season is almost upon us in Baco! This river raised like 5ish feet in 1 week!

Fish?? I Take it Back...

July 11, 2019

Last week, I mentioned fish is now my favorite here...and I'm going to change that to, IT DEPENDS.

I was on a streak of eating some really really good fish, my favorite is fried tilapia, but Sunday night, I was reminded why fish isn't always the best option. After a hard day's work, we went to the branch mission leader's house for dinner. Of course, as always, there was a lot of rice, but the ulam (the food you eat with the rice) was a tiny bit of squid and then this huge bowl of these little dried fishes. I definitely preferred the squid, but there was only enough for us to have one each, and then all that was left was the huge bowl of the dried fishes. Of course, being the only American in the room, everyone wants me to eat the little fishes first, expecting me to throw up or something. So I take one, confirm that I'm supposed to eat it how it is, and then I bite the head off, and with a couple more bites eat it all, bones and all. Everyone's watching me, and I somehow manage to say, "masarap"(delicious) and hide the fact that it's terrible. When they are satisfied that I'm enjoying it, everyone's happy and then they start devouring the fish haha. They keep telling me to eat more and more... I think I ended up eating 20 of those nasty little fishes, haha not the best dinner I've had here...

BINYAG

On a happier note, we had a baptism on Saturday! She's 15 and is the niece of one of the RMs in the branch. Elder Rabanal was the one who baptized her, and he was seriously so worried that he wouldn't be able to get her out of the water haha. Luckily he was able to perform the ordinance correctly, the first time, haha he was so happy! After the ordinance, Elder Rabanal was changing, while I was standing outside the bathroom, when I heard the branch singing "The Spirit of God". I started singing it also, and seriously, the spirit was burning within me like a fire! So awesome! It's experiences like this one that I remember when it's 100+ degrees and we're walking far distances, with little luck finding people, that keeps my heart and thoughts where they should be. I love this work and this gospel with all my heart.

President Cauilan and the zone

I forgot to mention that our pday got changed to Thursday (Wednesday night for those in the states) because we are now officially the Cavite mission. We briefly met with President Cauilan, who is new to being a mission president. I can tell that he is very stressed, but I can also feel that he is called of God to this great work. He is so awesome, and when we spoke, I felt a spirit of confirmation tell me that this is where I'm supposed to be. 

A typical day in the Philippines

tag-ulan

July 1, 2019

First of all, today is my 11 months mark in the mission. Today is also the first official day that I'm in the Cavite mission! Sister Davies called last night and told us how much she loves us! Kind of surreal, logging onto my missionary portal this morning, and seeing it say "Philippines Cavite Mission" under my name, instead of the usual "San Pablo". The Mission President is brand new and should be arriving at the mission home sometime today! 

Also, the rainy season has begun!! I have often heard other missionaries in the Philippines talk about the rain, but the island of Mindoro has been staying super hot, until one day, this past week--like a light switch--the rainy season started. I had a super small hole in my umbrella, but I didn't think that would be a problem. I didn't realize how big of a problem it was, until it started pouring on us haha... I've since bought a new umbrella. 

Nothing too crazy happened this week. We have been super busy with teaching all the people who are scheduled to be baptized in July! If everything goes according to plan, we should have nine baptisms this month!

Siide note: I think I've reached a landmark in my stay here in the Philippines that I didn't think would ever come. I think I can actually say I prefer fish over chicken! I don't know if the fish tastes better here on the island or what, but I'm loving it! Last week, as I was eating pieces of a fried fish head, my companion told me "Filipino ka na!" You're a filipino now!

Goodbye, President Davies, but Elder Grant's coming with me.