Birthdays and Microwaves

 How's it going everyone, this is week negative ten out of 8 million.

 This week was pretty crazy for Mandaue. For P day, we went shopping and it happened to be a form of black Friday where we went. It was insane but we couldn't shop any other days so we just had to deal. The way they do their deals here is they have giant bins you can just rummage through to find diamonds in a giant bin of crap. I scored some sick flip flops with treads on the bottom. I don't know why anyone wants flops they can go hiking in, but I have wanted a pair of thongs for a while now and they were the equivalent of 3 US dollars so I couldn't say no. 

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my last email, but we are in a different apartment now. It's pretty bougee compared to the dump. It has a nice fridge and even running water. Truly a magnificent upgrade. The problem is that it is concrete and just absorbs heat. It gets around 99 with humidity at 2, and doesn't cool off until around 8 or 9. I've named it the microwave for the time being. We requested an air con unit because it is almost as hot as me in there sometimes. (My new companion let me know that all you have to do is put in a request for things and you can get them...would have been nice to have an air con unit in the dump). 

Tuesday we finished moving in and had to get pictures for our air conditioner and bunk bed so we only had enough time to do some short finding. On the way back to the apartment we met a taxi driver that couldn't speak English and said he wanted to read the scriptures but he couldn't find a Cebuano version of the bible. We gave him a Cebuano version of the Book of Mormon and shared a short testimony about it to him. We gave him the info to the missionaries in his area. He seemed excited to read and I hope he reads it. 

Wednesday we taught the Lofranco couple a short lesson.  Then we got to know a part member family who has some promise. 

Thursday we went finding for most of the day and didn't have any teaching appointments. We had a few appointments lined up on Friday and they were all canceled because everyone in Mandaue is busy. We ended up doing member visits to get referrals. 

It was my birthday on Saturday and I got the best birthday present ever. We had a full day of teaching visits and a bomb dinner appointment. We gave Tatay a blessing because he has been in pain recently after a stroke. It was really cool to bless him and feel of his testimony. We then taught Beyonce and Leslie. They were both so interested in what we were teaching, and I feel like they have baptism potential. After that we had a dinner appointment at the bishop's house. They were already celebrating their aunt's birthday and my companion helped hijack their party for me. I felt kind of bad when they put the cake in front of me and sang to me instead of the aunt, but they had ube cake which is the best flavor of cake I have ever tasted. 

Overall, I just feel like we are so blessed with everything we have, and when we thank the Lord, even more blessing are showered on us. 

Don't have too much fun without me, and Merry Christmas.

For context on the pictures, the bishop had a massage chair and he let me use it for my birthday, It was incredible. That steak probably looks nast but it only cost 70 cents so that is expected, plus it was my first time frying a steak.

Transfers and Beverly Hills

What's up everyone this is week number 16 out of 92 quadrillion. This week went from a 3 to a 10 which is pretty crazy for Mandaue. We had transfers and my companion was changed from Elder Cayabyab to Elder Harris. Because my comp figured out he was getting transferred, we didn't do much until transfer day. I got Elder Harris who is a dope dude. He is a germaphobe and when we got back to the dump he was pretty annoyed. But it was dope because he is the only other missionary, basically ever, that was motivated to help me clean the apartment and oh baby we cleaned. Its actually crazy how nice the apartment was underneath all that filth. And right as I'm writing this, we got a call from the housing elders telling us we were going to a new apartment which sucks but at the same time they might have AC which is dope. We went exploring Saturday which was cool, and then we went to some member houses on Sunday to familiarize ourselves with the leadership, which was awesome. While we were walking, we went to the Beverly Hills of Mandaue which of course reminded me of the Weezer song, Beverly Hills. 

After walking through there, we took a turn through an alleyway and we walked through a street to see a gigantic snake this guy just had. We took some awesome pictures that I'll attach. 

Anyway, for my spiritual thought, I just thought I would just write about how God is like your spotter when you are gettin shredded at the gym. He lets you struggle with the weight knowing that you will get some big guns if you just keep reppin. And he will always be there to grab the bar just in case you cant lift anymore. He grabbed the bar for me this week and things are looking up.

Anyway don't do anything too fun without me.

I had a picture of the snake across my shoulders but I wasn't paying attention and there was a "no urinating" warning with a big wiener on it which is probably not appropriate for a missionary email.

 

And the Rains Came Tumbling Down

How's it going guys. This is week something? out of a big number of weeks. Not much happened this week except for rain. There was a typhoon headed for Cebu but it diverted and we didn't get hit. That didn't stop everyone from panicking though. Water went from like 20 pesos (40 cents) for 5 gallons to like 40 pesos (80 cents). Truly a mind blowing price increase. Most of our interested people were busy and one of the Elders in our district was headed home so we didn't get any lessons in, sadly. 

For interesting stories, we saw two dogs fighting over who got to eat a poop filled diaper. The dogs here are insane. Just the other day we were eating dinner on the street and 4 or so dogs came over to beg. One of them was missing a tail and had a big scrape across half of it, one dog had so much mange that it was missing half of its fur, one dog looked normal, and one dog was pregnant and missing a leg. It just hobbled around begging for food. 

On a less depressing note, I just want to mention the importance of putting in the effort to serve the Lord. Especially recently when our evenings were spent at goodbye shindigs for the Elder that was leaving. I felt like there was a part of me missing, and it was because we weren't using our missionary time wisely. Make sure to dedicate at least a little bit of your time to the Lord and you will be able to feel the difference. 

Anyway, don't do anything too fun while I'm gone. See ya. 

By the way one of the pictures is squid my companion cooked. It wasn't half bad to be honest.

 

Squitos and Spiders

How's it going everyone. I think my one month mark for being out in the field is tomorrow which is crazy to think. This week was more or less the same as last week for the most part. We mostly went  finding and tried to really familiarize ourselves with the area. We met a ton of different people but none of them really agreed to a second appointment with them which is a shame. Its really funny because the kids just mob me when we walk down more poor areas and they always want me to dunk on their homemade hoops. They are fascinated with my blonde arm hair which is pretty funny. 

We taught Beyonce and Leslie (I thought her name was Britany before) again and they brought their friend so we taught her too. It was a really good lesson, but halfway through, a half drunk family friend of theirs walked over and said he loved Jesus and wanted to learn too. We could tell he wasn't that interested but we let him join. Every once in a while he would interrupt with a half drunk "amen!", but he was pretty nice plus we got to watch him sway and almost fall off of his chair a couple of times which was really entertaining. 

On a less positive note, the mosquitos have really ramped up their efforts to eat me alive. I will wake up at night and even though I load on the mosquito repellant, they still manage to bite me because I sweat it off. I'm gonna have to reapply halfway through the night if this keeps up. Along with the mosquitos is the biggest spider I have ever seen. I was walking up the stairs right as a spider the size of my palm ran down the stairs. Of course i screamed like a little girl which made my companion laugh, and then as I tried to kill it, it slipped through a crack between our stairs and the window. Apparently they are harmless and they just eat cockroaches, but honestly I would rather have cockroaches. 

On a more spiritual note, I really have gained a strong testimony of effort, and rewards for that effort. If we put in the effort and try to find new people, life gets much easier. So putting in the effort to read scriptures or minister is definitely worth it. 

I miss you all! Don't have too much fun without me.

 

Paper Airplanes and the Hershey Squirts

How's it going everyone?. I think this is week 4 in Mandaue. I'm getting pretty used to the heat and the crazy atmosphere here, but it is still something different every day. We played early morning basketball with the members today. We were going to go to the Mactan shrine for a district activity which is the place where Magellan was supposedly killed, but it got cancelled because half of our district was out with food poisoning. We played ball instead which was fun but we played in like 95 degrees and humidity and it was 6:30 in the morning. By the end of the games we played, I legitimately looked like I fell into a fountain. 

This week we did a lot of visiting inactive members and we found two new interested people, or rather my companion did. They are sisters and their names are Beyonce and Britany which are the two most non Filipino names I have ever heard. They are really nice and when you see the pictures you will understand why my companion found them. Its so funny how like every Filipino in our district wanted to teach her. 

Anyway, speaking of food poisoning. Me and my companion went to a member house for a dinner appointment and it was great, but then they brought out oysters. I gave em a try and the members didn't expect me to munch too much, but my companion loved them and ate a whole bunch. Not even 45 minutes later, we were on rotation for our tiny bathroom. I only ate a little so I just had the runs, but my companion was barfing too so we were out for a day.  

We did some non member appointments then Stake Conference on Saturday and Sunday. The head honcho of the Philippines, Elder Bangerter, spoke and it was really good. 

Anyway, for a spiritual thought. I'll talk about paper airplanes. While me and my companion were down in the apartment. we had a paper airplane competition. As y'all know, you have to bend and fold a normal sheet of paper to get it to fly. Like paper airplanes, the Lord uses trials and problems to bend and fold us so we can fly. 

Anyway, don't have too much fun without me, and enjoy the cold weather.

 

You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd

 Holy cow what a week! I feel like I say that every week, but this week was especially crazy. I have recovered a lot since my last email and things really picked up since my last P day. The day after p day was zone conference and I felt good enough to go which was the right choice. It was really cool to talk to other missionaries who had some great advice. 

Wednesday was great too. We had a baptismal interview for a younger boy. His name is Pauli and he was the only member of his family to get baptized. His mom died when he was young, and he has no siblings.  I think that would be really tough. He lives right next to the church though and played basketball and volleyball with the members which is what led him to want to be baptized. It really showed me that my life is pretty great. 

Thursday we visited some inactive members, and did some finding. We were walking down this residential kind of area and a chihuahua ran up to me and started nipping at my ankles. Then like 4 more dogs ran out of the bushes and started chasing me. I whipped out my umbrella and was about to beat them back when a young guy came out and shooed the dogs away. He was interested in the message and we shared a quick message with him which was cool. We did some non member visits and finding for Friday and Saturday. We walked into a less active member house and the couple we taught looked like actual skeletons. They were nice though and loved our visit. The song I noticed myself singing in my head this week was one by Roger Miller.  "You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd" the chorus of the song is "you can't roller skate in a buffalo herd, but you can be happy if you put your mind to. Knuckle down, buckle down, do it do it do it." I've really found that if I try to serve the Lord to the best of my ability, I am far more happy and successful. There are things I don't have, like air conditioning, running water, and a good roof. But I can be happy if I put my mind to it. Anyway don't do anything too fun without me, and enjoy the cool weather for me.

Jake

Still Alive Somehow

 How's it going everyone?  This last week has been more or less the same as last week. In my last email, I probably said that I would be recovered by my next email, but God had different plans for me. I've been a little more sick than usual. Its been rough because my fever only broke a couple days ago and I was only able to get out and about on Sunday. But that's just the way the cookie crumbles out here. I had the chills for the last few days so now that I'm getting a little more back to normal, it is feeling hotter and hotter. Which is technically a good thing, but it doesn't feel like a good thing. I just want to thank you guys for all the support you have shared with me. It is definitely helping the days go by a little easier for sure. I think this has been the biggest lesson in patience and trust that I have ever received. There have been moments when I'm laying on my thin mattress throwing my slides at the cockroaches that are climbing on our moldy walls, and I've thought,  "I'm out in the mission field and I cant even get the blessing of being able to teach people yet."  And it sucks, but God knows what is going to be best for me. 

I recently was shared a scripture in D&C about Joseph Smith in liberty jail. His suffering was pretty bad and he was wondering where God was in his trials and God's response was "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;  And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." I'm sure this is going to teach me a lot about humility and trusting the Lord, but its still hard. I'm more or less better now so tomorrow is gonna be great.

Thanks for the prayers.  Jake

The True Meaning of Misery

 Dude I don't even know where to start here. These last few days have been the most insane days of my life without question. I guess to start, we left the MTC at 2 in the morning for the airport and arrived in Cebu at 7:30. At this point I had really started to get sick and I was running a fever with chills and a pretty nasty cough for a couple days at that point, and I felt pretty crappy, but I was still excited to get out to the field. We met at the mission president's house which was crazy nice, and we were told where we were going to serve. I wanted to go to the countryside so bad, but I guess Heavenly Father had different plans because the mission president said "have you ever been to a concrete jungle before?" That's when i found out i was getting sent to the Mandaue 1st area. Mandaue is literally the most people dense area in the Philippines. But I was still excited to go there. It was then that the mission doctors checked on me and decided that they wanted to test me for pneumonia since my breathing didn't sound good. So I got to spend the first six hours of first day in the hospital. So by the time I reached the mission field I was sick, sleepy, and coughing like crazy. Then I was treated to the state of our apartment. It was dim, smelly, small, and the water only works for a couple hours every day. If you want some water for a bucket shower it's a dice roll on whether or not you will get it. Plus the roof is leaking water near constantly, the bathrooms aren't fit for humans to go near, and worst of all is the near constant sweltering heat. My first night I couldn't sleep because of the heat and the constant coughing, and there was a song by maroon 5 that was playing in my head called misery. Here are some of the lyrics. "I am in misery, and there ain't nobody who can comfort me. Why wont you answer me? the silence is slowly killing me" I was praying for a long time for comfort and assistance through this trial, and I was almost getting angry at God for making me recover from sickness in this dump while I gave him two years of my life. It was then that I realized that these experiences are going to help me grow as a servant of God, and that I just needed to trust in the Lords timing. Then the next day I had the chance to baptize two converts that the sisters helped. It was almost the Lord saying directly to me that He knows I'm uncomfortable, and that He knows I'm tired and sick, But He will use these trials to shape me into a stronger man and missionary. So now whenever I think about that song when I'm miserable, I'll change the lyrics, " I am in misery, and there is somebody who can comfort me, I trust that You will answer me, but the silence is slowly killing me" 

I'm sorry for the longer email. I usually keep things shorter, but this one was a bit different. Anyway I'm missing you all. Don't do anything too fun without me.

Mountain Dew and General Conference

 It's my final P day in the air conditioned MTC! I can't wait to get out there and live in a hut. In terms of the language, I figured out how sentences are built and structured. So all I need to do is build up my vocab and I'll be a bisdak (that's cebuano for local). General conference was pretty sick. I took some fire notes and only fell asleep twice. I have been sick the last couple days so that's my excuse. I drifted off during the raising your kids talk and tipped over into the row. It was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life. My chair tipped over and made a giant clang and it was the most surreal experience because one second I'm drifting off and the next second I'm on the ground with everyone looking at me. That wasn't all the general conference drama. My district mate brought a 2 liter mountain dew to the activity center where there was a strict no dewski policy. Of course, he then took the entire thing down in a half hour. Right as he was taking his last sip the mission president himself came over and yoinked it. I thought it was hilarious, but then me and my companion got called into his office. Since we are MTC zone leaders it was our responsibility to not let him bring it in. Oh well its not the worst thing to get in trouble for. We are packing up and leaving in two days and only have one day of class left. I'm hyped to get out there and do some cool gospel stuff. I was told there is an area that includes a remote island where the only white people they see are missionaries. I'm hearing more and more stories of missionaries blessing the sick and converting whole families and I can't wait. There is a picture pinned up on the notice board of this skinny missionary baptizing this old man in the ocean with men gathering fishing nets in the background. I can't wait to be that guy. I'm missing you all but not too much. Don't do anything too fun without me.

The Sloop John B

 What's going on everybody, this is week 5 I think, probably week six but who's counting. I think my mom and the girls  back home are the only ones counting actually. Anyway I think I have officially settled in to Philippines missionary life. I can tell because it sucks to go to bed, and it sucks to wake up in the morning. My companion found the song the sloop john B by the beach boys in the ringtone list. the song is about how a guy is on a boat and wants to go home. So every morning I wake up to "I feel so broke up, I wanna go home." We don't actually wanna go home, but for us it's kind of like hearing someone say oh poor baby me. It helps me think about how I've got it pretty dang good and that it really isn't that hard to wake up and learn language for 10 hours. Since it's P-day I'm super excited to go to the temple. Its great to have a couple hours to do ordinances and relax as we serve the Lord. I used to think that we went to the temple just to help others, but the temple is also there for us to reflect and think about our blessings. Our last Sunday in the MTC was a couple days ago. Since I am zone leader here I have to find people to prepare the sacrament and teach priesthood lessons. We managed to find enough people before Sunday which was cool, but as soon as Sunday rolled around literally everyone we chose either fell down the stairs, had blood in their diarrhea, or was puking their guts out. We managed to figure things out but I'm convinced we were cursed. 

We only have ten days left here at the MTC and our leaving date is closing in, my last P day will be next week. I'm super excited to get out there and teach. I've also made it my goal to stop complaining about the heat and be more positive, but just will share a snippet from an email coming from a missionary who left a week ago to the mission I'll be serving in. "At no point do you ever feel slightly cool. You wake up sweaty, you sleep sweaty, and when you get out of a nice cold shower you are sweaty in minutes." With that I end my email. Don't do anything too fun without me.