Welcome to the Bacolod after 18 hours of traveling, no
sleep, missionary work on every flight, gave out 1 B of M, 2
mormon.org
cards with 2 referrals. Our plane rides were chaotic, Manila robbed us
$ wise-we had to pay $100 each for baggage w/ no time to fight it or we
would've missed our flight: We got to Bacolod, were greeted by
humidity, bathrooms w/ no TP (Good thing I had kleenex in my backpack..I
was not about to start off my trip with having to wipe with my
hands..not yet at least HA!), our Mission Pres. and wife, and the 2
AP's. We headed for the hotel where we stayed for the next 2 nights
because the Mission Home was under renovation. We had interviews that
night and met some of the office staff. We were embarrassingly tired and were falling asleep while waiting for our turn! Jet lag I
tell ya! We went back and the next morning went down for breakfast and
was greeted w/ rice, meatballs, fish, chicken, omlettes, fruit, and
bread..where's the bagels, cereal, and pancakes?? Not in the PI! ha But,
I have learned to love the rice real quick! We had orientation that
day, met the rest of the Filipino missionaries that were new as well.
We had dinner with the President and others and it turned into a cultural
event..they all wanted to hear from the foreigners so us Americans sang
"Home on the range" (Sis kings choice, not mine ha), the Canadians sang
their national song, and the filipinos got up and sang as sisters in
zion/armies of helamen...huh?! that's not cultural! That's american too!
haha. Friday came and we knew we were getting our trainers. The
night before I had a feeling that I was going to be sent to the Central
zone which is dead center in the city...guess where I got assigned?
Central zone, Bacolod 6th ward! Who told me no sisters got sent to the
city?? haha Definitely wrong. This mission is not allowed to tract, but
we focus all our time on reactivation. I was immediately humbled and
grateful for what I had. These people all have houses made out of wood,
boxes, sticks, no air, no floors but dirt, trees as chairs and blankets
separating "rooms". I was taken back at how they had hardly anything
but were extremely happy! You never truly understand until you see it
first hand. And this is my home for the next 12 weeks at least and I
LOVE it! Day two in the field we had a baptism of the Tan family, a
husband and wife. As we walked to the church it poured on us and I
didn't have my umbrella, hence why I look the way I do in thepicture.
They are the nicest family and will be great! I've already gotten close
to them and seeing all that they gave up to become a member is incredible, but
the Lord will bless them! Right now we have 7 families/people who have
baptism dates set for the next 5 weeks. We teach at least 30+ lessons a
week and stay busy. My trainer is good. She's extremely diligent,
obedient, dedicated and helps me be the missionary I need to be. But,
unfortunately, she keeps it all business, so we don't really know much
about eachother personally..oh well! The language is tough as I've been
trying to learn it. Everything I learned in Tagalog is basically
useless and I'm starting from square one. But, I continue trying. Our
ward is in English and most people talk to me in English too, which
doesn't help haha. Whoever said this is the hardest thing I'd ever do
is right, but I can already see blessings from it. In all our lessons,
never fails, we ask them who they want to say the prayer..guess who they
choose?? THE AMERICAN! haha geez! That's one way to learn the language
and they chuckle as they pick me too. Haha I love it! everyone comments
on the following everytime I talk to someone, it's one of these: how
tall I am (even president said it), or they call me gwapa which means
beautiful, or they say that I look like a beauty pageant queen and
should try out for Miss America! hahhaha Oh they're funny! The people
are so sweet and welcoming and my love for them increases each day. On
sunday, I was called on to share my testimony..I started in english
with words I didn't know, but as I started to give my testimony in
Illongo, everyone was smiling and laughing as I tried my hardest!
hhahaha They all laugh because I say the common words in Illongo because
I"m learning doctrine words etc so I'm limited and my trainer
translates most of the time as I'm learning! hahahah
But here are some random things:
-We only have running water in the apt from 5 to 8am
-We take bucket showers (that wasn't a joke)
-We eat rice for practically every meal.
-I haven't eaten anything crazy because the members/others don't feed us..we fend for ourselves.
-We've had 2 brown outs which are power outages
-I have 10 mosquito bites that turned purple..ouch!
-They have American music blaring in the streets..it's funny to see how far behind the times they are.
-We
ride in those tricycles a lot because our house isn't in the area and
our area is huge. I barely fit in them, the roof is on my head
literally, and when we hit bumps they all laugh because I hit my head
really hard.
-I have to bend down to get in through any doors in houses, etc. You'd think I'm 6'2 over here..I'm only 5'9!
-I got pecked and bit by a duck. haha
-I
have embarrassing moments where filipinos don't understand me and their
culture they just stare at you and drop their jaw if they don't
understand. ha
-The families all want me to help them with their English and they in return help me with my illongo.
-Mothers Day we can skype!
-My
singing is awful here because they aren't the best singers and soIi
sometimes follow them out of habit..cover your ears! haha
-There's only 25 sisters in the mission.
-When I say I'm from Vegas, they ask if I've gambled before haha.
-We don't schedule appts here, we just drop by and tech because they're always home.
-I have a fan next to me ALWAYS!!
-Moms breast feed in the open everywhere and even during lessons..no cover up, etc.
-Lizards visit the apt.
Well, I am out of time, but I'll write home answering your emails...know I love you all and love the PI!!!
Love you!
Sister Arnold
My address is Brgy 22 Bacolod City
6100 Negros Occidental
Philippines
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