Week One - Not in Manila!
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10:15 PM (19 hours ago)
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You
will be getting mail from my mission president in about three weeks
with a letter that talks about how I got to Manila. I wrote it when I
got to the mission home. It's not anything too great besides talking
about how long I was on an airplane for....
BUT. Now to the good stuff. So I got to the mission
home late at night on Tuesday (I think... those days are a blur to me
now...) Five other Manila sisters and I slept there. The mission home is
SO NICE. A/C and real hot showers and maids and it's beautiful and
clean. But I am no longer there. Let me tell you about where I am. Long
story.
So on Wednesday, all of our trainers and everyone
came to the mission home for the meeting and so we could get our
assignments. I met with President Stucki and he explained to me about
the mission boundaries (because they're changing in July because of the
Cavite Mission announcement which is half of the Manila mission). He
pointed out the island to me on the left hand side (which I had heard
rumors about at the MTC - apparently it's paradise, a real tourist
destination.) "This is Palawan", he says. "If you get sent there, that
means I have a lot of faith in you. There are only six sisters there
now." So then to the meeting. Everyone is getting their trainers and
their areas and I am confused because there aren't any trainers left by
the time he gets to me... "Sister Mecham's trainer couldn't be here," he
says, "Because she's still on Palawan." Uhhh.... Yep. Want to take a
guess where I am right now????? WELCOME TO PALAWAN SISTER MECHAM. But
listen, after the meeting, we're all taking pictures and chatting and
I'm thinking I probably won't go to the island until tomorrow because I
have to catch a plane to get there. Then one of the APs finds me and
says, "Sister Mecham, do you have your bag ready?" "uhhhhh" "Oh, no one
told you? You can only take 40 lbs in your bag to Palawan." So I'm
thinking, yeah that's fine. That's just ten lbs less from each bag. But,
he says, "No, ONE 40 lb. bag. No carry-on." My carry-on was easily 30
lbs. So, 130 lbs got condensed to 40 lbs in.... wait for it... 15
MINUTES. Because our plane was leaving in less than two hours. So,
needless to say I had no idea what was actually in my bag by the time I
got to Palawan. So many things got left behind. And I definitely forgot
my scriptures and debit card at the mission home... so my trainer,
Sister Hunt, has been paying for everything until the ZLs can get it to
me. We only get mail here once a month - when the ZLs pick it up from
the mission home at their meeting. Also, the office missionaries wanted
me to tell you to make sure to send packages in the flat rate boxes and
use USPS - that's the best way to get there here apparently. And fib a
little on how much the things are worth... coming from a missionary...
pasensiya.
So, THE CHILDREN HERE ARE SO CUTE. Seriously, I want
to adopt every Pilipino child. All they say to me when they see me on
the street is, "Amerikano po ba kayo?" "Matangkad." "Up here!" (high
five) "Hey Momma!" "I love you."What's your name?" But they just shout
the english out to me like they don't know what it means. Like, "What's
your name!!!!!!" and then they run away laughing. It's great.
So, we teach SO MANY LESSONS EVERY DAY. More than I
could have ever imagined. Part of this might be because we rarely have
real appointments with people. We just tao po our investigator's homes
unannounced and they let us in to teach them. Okay, the people here
speak so quietly. It's so hard for me to even hear what they are saying
because I'm so deaf.
So my area is mostly the city of Palawan - Puerta
Princessa 1st Branch. But it's so crazy, we'll be eating at a really
nice, normal Chow King one minute, then just a tricycle ride away will
be the poorest living conditions I have ever seen. One neighborhood is
built over the water in the bay. Like, the only thing separating the
people from the water is the thinnest layer of bamboo that you can see
through. And it's so dirty, the people just throw their garbage and
everything into the water. YUM. And there are roosters and pigs and dogs
and cats and goats and cockroaches and lizards and rats everywhere. My
first day it was so hard to focus in one lesson because there were
lizards crawling on the ceiling and rats in the "kitchen" sink. So
crazy, so awesome. One time we were teaching a lesson and a cockroach
flew full speed in the doorway and smacked on of the kids in the face.
But I was the only one who saw it. It was so funny.
So one of our RCs is the Bungard family. They live
in really poor conditions - one room hut, no furniture. But they are the
happiest people. We taught them about tithing. Tatay doesn't have a
job, but yesterday they paid their tithing anyway!!!!! It was so
awesome. Ah, I love them. They have the two cutest children. So when we
first got to their hut, the children were playing with fireworks,
throwing them at each other and on trees and at dogs and at everything. I
said, "I'm surprised the house hasn't lit on fire." So we're sitting on
the floor teaching them, when all of a sudden we hear tons of screaming
and Tatay runs out with a bucket of fire. Yeah, the house was on fire.
Don't worry, you don't need to get out of a burning house here. Just
wait inside until Tatay puts out the fire.
So, the language is HARD. I can understand
everything Sister Hunt (comp) says, but the native speakers are so hard
to understand. I've found that there is a direct correlation between how
many teeth people have and how well I can understand them.
Okay, so I'm running out of time. But I'm safe and happy and I love it here.
LINDERD - if you're reading this: The shoes you gave me are
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