Lice !?!

Kumusta na kayong lahat!!!!! 

Bahaha, I love that you were praying I'd go here. And that you jumped up at 11:45! Haha, that's impressive mom! Almost didn't think that was possible.  So here's the low down... I'm in the San Jose branch. There is a branch in Calintaan, but it's pretty far from us. There is pretty much no English here. It's actually a huge problem here because all of the teaching manuals are in English. Patay. So pretty much no one knows what's going on. Ha. Good thing we have 8 missionaries in one branch. Yikes. It's basically just a small bayan, beach and a ton of rice fields. Blows my mind to think that they manage all that land by hand. There's a bunch of Mangyans that walk around...they're from a tribal group in the mountains that come down to the town center to beg for money and sell some of their goods. So crazy to think those isolated groups of people truly do exist. They can understand a little of Tagalog, but they definitely don't speak it. Every week after church we go to the Whitings house (they're the couple missionaries here) and have lunch with all of us missionaries. So much fun! Makes it actually feel like Sunday with a wee bit of family bonding. This week I got to watch the sunset on the beach while we talked to a LA while he was cleaning his boat. Shoot, absolutely beautiful!! Too bad my camera is still in Manilla. Ha. Oh yeah, and I have lice. Just as a fun side note. NOT! Found it this week but I think I got it from Morong. It was going around the primary right before I left. It's pretty common here. but don't you worry, these Philippinos know how it de-kuto my head so it's gone....almost :) Worst nightmare come true, no joke. I was a rough adjustment this week just trying to get familiar with all the people...half my head and heart are still stuck in Morong. But I got over it pretty quickly. I'm here now and ready to go. There's a lot of work to do here. 

 About Christmas for kids don’t worry about it. Still haven't gotten the package you sent the beginning of last month. And probably won't til about general conference. So no worries. These people are so happy anyway, they don't need that kind of stuff. And LOVE that the Aggies won!!! I found out yesterday and honestly jumped up and down. I know we're horrible at football, so I just gotta celebrate any moment I can. Especially since I'm surrounded by BYZoo fans.......uuuu. Haha

So just a few things from this week.....So my companion, Sister Madelo, is so funny. She's so great to me...helps me wash my clothes, cleans the house with me, picks out my lice (hahaha, oh my goodness....), and we get along really well. She doesn't trust people very quickly, but I think because we were kabahay in Morong, it's helped a ton. Already know each  other's habits, likes, dislikes, a little background, etc. Anyway, this is the landmark thing, she is sarcastic!!! What?!? Honestly the first philippino I know who really knows sarcasm. Honestly caught me off guard for the first bit because I'm just not used to it anymore! I'm going to get walked over by everyone when I get home. Haha, So funny. We've had a good time though.

Just a cool story from this week. So there's a less active family here where Tatay doesn't believe in the Book of Mormon or in Joseph smith. I kind of had an idea, but didn't really know the whole story. So we go there on Saturday, and we had no plan for what we were going to teach. Just TMN...it means, teach to meet needs. So we get there and this thought pops in...Jacob 4:4-5. Huh? That's random. So we start teaching, figure all this out, and what do you know, get to the point where Jacob 4 is perfect! So we just talked about how the Bible is different...it's different people, stories, etc, but the message is the same. And he got it. He finally understood! Just one of those moments where I'm always so glad for the help of the spirit and revelation. It seriously happens all the time and we don't even recognize it I think.

So that's all for this week. Sounds like all the missionaries scattered to the four corners of the earth are still alive and kicking. Ha, oh those first few weeks.....Always to challenge. We'll pray for them :) Love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!