March 12, 2014 - Talisay City

Today is a tropical day! 

This was going to be such an awesome picture.

So yeah, last night it started to rain, a kind of misty rain, like Elder Gama said, just falls like snow. And it's continued all through this morning, just a misty rain. But when we walked out of the temple today, was the first time here I think I've really felt the air hit me. It was just that heavy, hot good tropical air. I don't know, I think I may still take Santa Anas over this, but okay ra.

 Just call him Kobe. (Whenever I tell people I'm from Los Angeles, the reply is always: "Oh, like the Lakers." Basketball is really big here.)

The work this week has been really growing. Well, I've really felt myself growing from all we do. I have truly been loving my area, too. I've talked to some people, including my batch-mate, Elder Job, who's in Naga, and they all say that Talisay is one of the just real dirty city areas. And we definitely have that. But that's not what I'm here to see. And the people I have met have been wonderful. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to do a Community Service Project at the Kubar Compound. The Kubars are in Elder Haws' area, and when I went out with him, we met with Clarice and Stuart. So this Kubar family, apparently is just this huge craziness of members, non-members, and less active members all in this family living on this plot of land in the hills a little ways. And from what I've been able to gather, they definitely have plenty of trials. But the ones I met with, Clarice is not a member, but she really listened to what we had to say, even though there was a camp of little batas (kids) all being loud with us, she wanted to hear our message. And Stuart is a teenager who has gone out a bit with the Elders, and is preparing to go on a mission when he gets to the age. And he was a really bright kid, and he shared his testimony at the end of our lesson that we taught. But back to the service project, we were sweeping up the leaves that had all piled up in their compound, which is this little grove of old-growth trees. And we worked with all these kids, and talked a bit with some of the Kubars who live there. I just got a great feeling about these people, that they would be great saints of the Lord's kingdom if they get through these trials. I really just felt good about the work we did there, and not to mention, there's a nice, clean grove above Talisay now.

Sun Day

So one of the things that has really kind of upset the work for us is that we run into a lot of situations where we can't teach our appointment because we have no kuyog nga lalaki (man companion, literally) and there's only a mom whose bana (husband) is at work or something. But we've had a lot of experiences where we show up at someone's house and they're super excited to have us, asking us to "lingkod, lingkod! (sit, sit)" and want to talk so much about something they've read, something they've learned, but we have to say sorry, wa'y kuyog, and just leave with a short visit. Now, in most of our cases, we are able to return, because our ward Mission leader is a great guy and comes out with us a lot. But still, to see these people who want so much to review and discuss what they've learned, is both wonderful and hard. 

Cebu Philippines Temple

 I just got back now from the temple! We were able to do a session, which was really cool. It's a good temple. It's a lot like Newport Beach, except the ordinance rooms are bigger, and they're all on the second story, so like Newport with a second floor, basically. But one interesting thing, the men don't wear a shirt and tie. They have a white Barang, which is a traditional Filipino formal wear, but it's just a big silk shirt that you don't tuck in and don't button the neck, so it's super comfy. But it was a really nice experience to be able to go to the temple, and to see this beautiful new temple on the other side of the world, still teaching the same gospel to turn us to Christ.